text: 7 Common Causes of Chronic Headaches 25 July 2018 Lifes-Abundance Healthy Living (0) Chances are, you've interacted with more than one person today who's suffering from a headache. There are likely a number of people reading this post right now who have a headache. That's because millions of Americans suffer from mild-to-intense headaches. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 20 people in the developed world suffer from chronic headaches on a daily basis. For those who have more days per month with a headache than without, life starts to feel like an endurance test more than anything else. Between the pain, the throbbing and the pounding, folks with chronic headaches will begin to have difficulty concentrating. This lack of focus can prove quite dangerous, especially if your job puts you in hazardous situations. If your headaches began all of a sudden and have lasted for three months or longer, you may be experiencing what experts refer to as New Daily Persistent Headaches (NDPH). Such head pain may grow or slack off in intensity, but they are constant. There are medications to provide relief for such round-the-clock headaches, as well as relaxation techniques and biofeedback which have had some success in treating NDPH's. Do you or someone you know have chronic headaches? Here are seven common causes, along with some idea about how to remedy such triggers. 1. MedicationsSome prescription medications may have the potential to trigger a headache. It may not be just one medication causing the problem, but rather an interaction between prescriptions or even over-the-counter medications. If you've recently switched up your prescription routine, and seen a corresponding increase in headaches, please consult with your doctor. 2. Stress & AnxietyStress can take a toll on you, and it's a common cause of tension headaches. If you can avoid stressful situations, great. If not, learning to cope with stress and be more chill could really help. If you're unfamiliar with breathing exercises, just Google it! They're easy to find online and take very little time and effort to yield results. Breathing and relaxation exercises may ease anxiety in stressful situations and prevent possible headaches. Just remember to breathe, relax and maybe take a stroll if your present environment is causing you undue stress. 3. Auditory & Visual CausesLoud, repetitive sounds can definitely lead to bad headaches ... just ask anyone who has lived nearby a construction site. But it's not just super-loud sounds, even low levels of continuous noise can trigger head pain. Calming music playing over noise-cancelling headphones may help. Brightness from your computer screen, sunlight or overhead lights can ramp up the pain. Turning down your screen brightness, or simply switching your devices to night-mode, could make a significant difference. 4. Hormonal ChangesThe sad truth is that women are more likely to suffer from chronic headaches than men. When estrogen levels drop, especially right before a period, you may be more likely to develop a headache. Keep track of your cycle in a journal or diary. By analyzing the data, you may be better able to plan for future headaches. We recommend that you share your diary with your doctor, especially if the patterns indicate a correlation between your cycle and chronic headaches. 5. Poor PostureBelieve it or not, but your parents were right. Maintaining good posture can have a noticeable effect on your health. This is no laughing matter, especially for those of us who spend a lot of time looking down at our phones (text neck, it's a thing). Whether you're in your office chair or on your couch at home, sit up straight and raise your device to eye level to keep your blood flowing. Be sure to get up and move around every so often, especially if you spend hours hunched over your desk. Just as it is important to be aware of your posture during the day, you should also be mindful of your body position when you sleep. Don't sleep in an strangely contorted position - especially in a cold room – as this can lead to painful muscle spasms. No one enjoys waking up in excrutiating pain, especially if you're already sleep-deprived, so take this suggestion to heart! 6. Too Little or Too Much ExerciseSince Ancient Greek times, thinkers and philosophers have cautioned us with variations on the phrase, "moderation in all things." Both physical over-exertion and not getting sufficient exercise can increase your risk for headaches. If you're leading a mostly sedentary life now and plan to begin an exercise routine, just be sure to start things off slow at the gym. Pushing too hard can result in an exertion headache from the swelling of blood vessels in your head, neck and scalp. To avoid such a scenarios, talk to your doctor before beginning or revising any exercise regimen. 7. Poor NutritionFood and drink release neurotransmitters, which can cause headaches in some people. Such triggers include aspartame, caffeinated beverages, chocolate, alcohol (especially red wine), cheese and others. Skipping meals or eating junk foods can deprive your body of sorely needed nutrition. Doctors recommend focusing on a healthy balanced diet, with a good mixture of slow-release energy foods (taken in small, evenly spaced meals) and limiting your intake of refined sugars. To ensure that you're getting all of the nourishment you need, we encourage you to check out our selection of premium health supplements. Each innovative product was carefully formulated with registered dietitian, healthy cooking expert and author Keri Glassman, founder and president of Keri Glassman, Nutritious Life. Word of caution ... if you have eliminated all of these potential causes as the trigger of your head pain, be aware that there are other serious causes that can lead to a sudden headache. You should make an appointment with your doctor right away. GP's may order imaging tests - such as an MRI or a CT scan - to rule out more serious conditions that require immediate treatment. Have you discovered a way to overcome your chronic headaches? We're interested to learn how. Please leave your helpful tips in the comments section below! 7 Common Causes of Chronic Headaches According to the World Health Organization, 5% of people in developed countries experience chronic headaches. That's hundreds of millions! Learn the common causes and how to avoid them now. Tweet


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Showing results for tags 'simplification'.
I've been using Enpass on many platforms, all cloud synced, for I guess around 15 years, possibly more. Before that, I used my own homegrown solution that used several encryption schemes incuding AES, that I programmed in pascal (with Borland Delphi toolset). When Enpass came along, I was probably one of the first to jump, as I could see the advantages it had over my own solution, with virtually no penalties, other than a slight financial outlay, which looked well worth the benefits. I've always had many tens of passwords, lately, hundreds. My own solution had only a two-collumn spreadsheet-like user interface, to capture username, and password. Simples. I used it for years. But it wasn't multi-platform, and it didn't have cloud syncing, both of which are very desirable features. Mine was only a standalone secure database. I'd looked at keepass and some others around at the time and I did not like any of them, as they seemed overly complex to use, compared with Enpass which was beautifully simple to use. Hence my switch. My ideal password manager would be telepathic. I grudge every iota of thought required to think about passwords, or the management of them. The last thing I want whilst trying to carry out chores is to have to wrestle with the password manager. Unfortunately, I am finding more and more effort is required lately to keep up with the new "features", and the changes being made to Enpass. Now, to create a new password in Windows for example, I need to think about the following; 1) How best to start the app, from the windows start menu, or the windows tray? Do I already have one or the other, or even both running? Should I shut one or the other down? 2) Click the " +" add button, choose and click on the "login type" I would like to use (Who cares!), choose the "Template" I would like to use (Who cares!), this even using a search dialog, then finally start filling out the new password form, using the password generator to generate a nice secure password 3) To get the newly generated password out of the generator onto the form requiring the password, press the insecure "eyeball" button, then select the password, then use ctrl-c to copy it (because Enpass has disbled the right-click windows copy drop down menu), and then finally paste it into the pasword text field we are trying fill in the website we are trying to create the new login for. If that site is not happy with the format of the autogenerated password, rinse and repeat, adusting the format of the password generation. It should be simple, and we know that it could be, because it used to be. But now it isn't, not by a long way, and seems to get worse with every update. Enpass developers, do you realise you are destroying the utility of the utility by adding unnecessary complication? Sales are made by adding real utility. Greater utility is had by simplifying the user interface. Personally I do not want Login types, Templates, or Multiple vaults. Also I don't trust browser plugins to enter passwords in web forms on my behalf, or any execution of enpass which starts on its own, or continues running in the background after I've exited. I am again looking at Keepass now, after more than 15 years, as that solution I once turned down for being overly complex to use now seems almost favourable compared with the complex thing Enpass has become. So, rant over, on to my feature request: Please can you put a "Classic" option in the app, to be chosen at the time of installation, which will give us back the simplicity and functionality that we enjoyed up until around version 5? The time I've already spent writing this post is much grudged, so I my apologies in advance in case I do not interact further. I am way too busy to be spending time trying to get Enpass fixed. But it gave me so much pleasure to use in the past, so I think it might be worth just this one last chance, that it might improve again, before I have to accept complexity is just something we all have to live with, no matter which solution we use. Thanks, I know this is within your power. Best wishes in any case.
- 3 replies
- complexity
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Insurance Account Representative - State Farm Agent Team Member
Full Time in Pearland, TX
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Competitive salary
- Dental insurance
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- Paid time off
ROLE DESCRIPTIONKyle Angelle - State Farm Agent is seeking a qualified and empathetic professional for the role of Insurance Account Representative - State Farm Agent Team Member. As a customer-oriented expert, you will market the best Life/Health insurance services and products to benefit clients and their families. Your sales experience equips you to continually grow your income as you provide the needed security for times of distress and vulnerability. As a strategic and emotionally intelligent resource to the community, we are excited to expand our successful agency with your skillset. RESPONSIBILITIES
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During the first couple of hours of the 2014 Total 24 Hours of Spa the fight for the lead quickly developed into a duel between the Audi and BMW teams. At 19:00 the whole of the top-5 was in the hands of these two German brands. Meanwhile, some of the candidates for the win experienced their first problems of the race.
It was in front of packed grandstands and under a glorious sunshine that the 66th edition of the Total 24 Hours of Spa got underway. Polesitter Laurens Vanthoor and his #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi had no problems to hold on to the lead, in front of Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari, who safely stormed up the Raidillon this time.
During the first hour, the cars running in front held on to their positions. The first notable incident befell the #8 M-Sport Bentley, with Antoine Leclerc at the wheel. After contact with another car the Bentley had to come into the pitlane with steering damage. After half an hour the #99 ART Grand Prix McLaren of Kévin Estre slowed down notably, and the Frenchman came to a complete stop at the entry of the pitlane. Because the McLaren was in a dangerous place, it was pushed inside the pitlane, where Estre started the repairs himself. It was not until the mechanics arrived - who had to climb all the way from the penultimate box in the endurance pitlane – that the car got going again. The other car of the team, the #98 ART Grand Prix McLaren in the hands of Alvaro Parente, also lost a lap due to a puncture.
95 minutes into the race the safety car was deployed, when Vyacheslav Maleev crashed the #100 SMP Racing Russian Bears Ferrari at the Raidillon corner. The Russian driver was fine, the car was the first retirement of the race. Unfortunately, it was quickly followed by the #150 Wochenspiegel Team Manthey Porsche, that retired with a damaged engine.
After an eleven minute safety car-intervention, the race was restarted, only to be neutralized again for 25 minutes due to a crash of Mullen in the #101 Von Ryan Racing McLaren. And as if that was not enough two separate incidents at the restart caused another intervention of the safety car. Karim Ojjeh lost the #15 Boutsen Ginion McLaren at Raidillon, while Jörg Müller in the #66 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS BMW hit the back of the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari at La Source corner. The Marc VDS car, which at one point was leading the race, managed to get back into the pitlane, where the heavily damaged front right corner could be repaired. Six cars were lost in the process.
The third restart was also the scene of several incidents at the Raidillon corner, with the #16 Boutsen Ginion McLaren, the #50 AF Corse Ferrari, the #107 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin and the #458 GT Corse by Rinaldi Ferrari. Xavier Maassen in the #85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes hit one of the spinning cars, managed to get the car back to pitlane on three wheels, only to retire the car.
The #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi was the first leader in Pro-Am, but once the first driver changeovers had passed, the car dropped to fifth in the category. At 19:00 the #93 Pro GT by Almeras Porsche had taken the lead of the category, running in 7th overall, less than a second ahead of the #90 Scuderia Villorba Corse Ferrari. Third was in hands of the #79 Ecurie Ecosse BMW, who had started the race from 15th overall.
Gentlemen Trophy
Partly due to the long safety car interventions the #51 AF Corse Ferrari managed to take the lead of the class, and even ran inside the top-20. The #350 Duqueine Engineering Ferrari was in second position, the #49 AF Corse Ferrari in third, all cars still in the same lap.
Jérôme D'Ambrosio (#8 M-Sport Bentley): "Antoine was a victim of contact with another car, which caused damage at the steering of our Bentley. The crew managed to repair the car, but we lost some five laps. It will be long race, for sure."
Nicolas Lapierre (#98 ART Grand Prix McLaren): "The guys did some fantastic work in repairing the car after the heavy crash during free practice. The car seems to go very well, but we were a bit unfortunate when we were hit by a puncture early on. But I am very happy that we are back in the game."
Xavier Maassen (#85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes): "At the third restart, I saw some smoke on top of the Raidillon corner, and I slowed down immediately. But then I was surprised by a car, that had come to a halt in the middle of the track. It was impossible to avoid contact. I am gutted, because we really had a shot at a good result here."


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6 Tips to Help Summer Depression
The kids are out of school. Your neighbors are whistling on their way to work, greeting you with an enthusiasm peculiar to warm weather. And if you hear one more person ask you about your summer vacation plans, you will throw a US map and atlas at them.
You don't mean to be grumpy. But darn it, you are miserable in the oppressive heat, your kids are home for 90 consecutive days, and you are don't have the stamina to pretend you are giddy that summer has arrived.
Sound familiar?
You're not alone. After publishing a piece recently about the trigger of Memorial Day for me — reminding me that most of my relapses have happened in the summer months — I've heard from so many readers that fear this time of year for the same reason: summer depression.
Ian A. Cook, MD, the director of the Depression Research Program at UCLA names five causes of summer depression in an article published by our friends over at WebMD:
1. Summertime SAD.
You've probably heard about seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, which affects about 4% to 6% of the U.S. population. SAD typically causes depression as the days get shorter and colder. But about 10% of people with SAD get it in the reverse — the onset of summer triggers their depression symptoms. Cook notes that some studies have found that in countries near the equator – like India – summer SAD is more common than winter SAD.
2. Disrupted schedules in summer.
If you've had depression before, you probably know that having a reliable routine is often key to staving off symptoms. But during the summer, routine goes out the window — and that disruption can be stressful, Cook says. If you have children in grade school, you're suddenly faced with the prospect of keeping them occupied all day, every day. If your kids are in college, you may suddenly find them — and all their boxes of stuff — back in the house after a nine-month absence. Vacations can disrupt your work, sleep, and eating habits — all of which can all contribute to summer depression.
3. Body image issues.
As the temperature climbs and the layers of clothing fall away, a lot of people feel terribly self-conscious about their bodies, says Cook. Feeling embarrassed in shorts or a bathing suit can make life awkward, not to mention hot. Since so many summertime gatherings revolve around beaches and pools, some people start avoiding social situations out of embarrassment.
4. Financial worries.
Summers can be expensive. There's the vacation, of course. And if you're a working parent, you may have to fork over a lot of money to summer camps or babysitters to keep your kids occupied while you're on the job. The expenses can add to a feeling of summer depression
5. The heat.
Lots of people relish the sweltering heat. They love baking on a beach all day. But for the people who don't, summer heat can become truly oppressive. You may start spending every weekend hiding out in your air-conditioned bedroom, watching pay-per-view until your eyes ache. You may begin to skip your usual before-dinner walks because of the humidity. You may rely on unhealthy takeout because it's just too stifling to cook. Any of these things can contribute to summer depression.
Alrighty, so now that we have a full list of what is contributing to our depression, what do we do about it?
1. Get on a schedule.
As Cook mentioned, I absolutely need a schedule to stay sane. Without one, I'm in trouble. So a month or so before school ends for the year, I get out my calendar and start marking it up. They will go to this camp during this week. I will be able to work from 8 to 3 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I will swim in the morning on these days. You get the point.
2. Plan something fun.
It doesn't have to be expensive. Something as simple as taking a day off of work to have lunch with a friend or chill out with a novel at home can be incentive to get through a few weeks. One good piece of advice I received when I was trying to work through a severe depression was to plan something enjoyable every few weeks to keep me motivated to move forward. Not that I had to envision myself as having a jolly old time. But something that could give me an ounce of joy carried me through many hot summer afternoons.
3. Replace the triggers.
In their book, Extinguishing Anxiety, authors Catherine Pittman and Elizabeth Karle explain that in order to retrain the brain from associating a negative event to a trigger that creates anxiety, we must generate new connections by exposure. So, for me, I need to replace memories of relapses in the summer (which trigger anxiety for me during the summer) with positive events during the summer. I mentioned in a recent piece, that one way I'm doing this is by getting involved in my kids' swim team because that generates feelings of peace and happiness. And in so doing, being around the pool won't remind me as much of the days when I sat slumped over in the baby pool section, unable to carry out a conversation with anyone.
4. Sleep.
It's important to maintain good sleep hygiene in the summer. That is, even though the day's events are changing from week to week, make sure to keep your sleep schedule the same: go to bed at the same time every night, wake up at the same time every morning, and don't sleep much less than 7 hours and no more than 9 hours a night. When depressed, it's common to want to sleep as much as you can, to kill the hours. However, extra sleep does increase depression.
5. Exercise.
During the summer months, it's easy to abandon any exercise program that you've been disciplined enough to start since the oppressive heat can be dangerous, if not terribly unappealing. So before the heat sets in, design a plan you can stick with that won't make you stick to everything else. I run early in the morning during the summer, before the humidity sets in, and I try to swim more often.
6. Be around people.
As tempting as it is to isolate during the summer, forcing yourself to be around people — even if you don't join the discussion — is going to assist your mood and especially the ruminations that get your into trouble. If you don't want to leave your air-conditioned home, at least make yourself call one person — a sibling, friend, or co-worker — to stay connected to the world.


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Contacting National Desks
Should you wish to contact a specific National Desk, please consult this section of the website. There, you will find an overview of Member States in alphabetical order. Please select the country of your choice to see the dedicated National Desk page, including a tab with either a contact form or contact information.


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Robert Axle Project Kid Trailer Thru Axle for Surly MDS/Gnot-Boost
Purchase our Kid Trailer axle for your bike. and share your stoke for cycling with your kids. Simplify your life by allowing quick and secure attachment of your trailer to your best and favorite bike. Enjoy the adventure.
Robert Axles for Kid Trailers are designed specifically to fit your 12mm thru-axle bike and allow attachment of any hitch-mounted trailer. These fit any trailer that has two wheels and a single point of attachment to the axle. This includes all the two-wheeled child, pet, and cargo trailers such as Thule, Chariot, Burley, Instep, Carry Freedom, and many more.
- This axle is specifically designed to fit the 142/148 hub standard Surly MDS or Gnot Boost bikes.
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Option | UPC | MPN |
Black / 151/157 x 12mm | 602150468114 | KID218 |


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The domain within your query sequence starts at position 267 and ends at position 476; the E-value for the Reprolysin domain shown below is 4.6e-26.
Reprolysin |
PFAM accession number: | PF01421 |
Interpro abstract (IPR001590): | Over 70 metallopeptidase families have been identified to date. In these enzymes a divalent cation which is usually zinc, but may be cobalt, manganese or copper, activates the water molecule. The metal ion is held in place by amino acid ligands, usually three in number. In some families of co-catalytic metallopeptidases, two metal ions are observed in crystal structures ligated by five amino acids, with one amino acid ligating both metal ions. The known metal ligands are His, Glu, Asp or Lys. At least one other residue is required for catalysis, which may play an electrophillic role. Many metalloproteases contain an HEXXH motif, which has been shown in crystallographic studies to form part of the metal-binding site [ (PUBMED:7674922) ]. The HEXXH motif is relatively common, but can be more stringently defined for metalloproteases as 'abXHEbbHbc', where 'a' is most often valine or threonine and forms part of the S1' subsite in thermolysin and neprilysin, 'b' is an uncharged residue, and 'c' a hydrophobic residue. Proline is never found in this site, possibly because it would break the helical structure adopted by this motif in metalloproteases [ (PUBMED:7674922) ]. This group of metallopeptidases belong to the MEROPS peptidase family M12, subfamily M12B (adamalysin family, clan (MA(M)). The protein fold of the peptidase domain for members of this family resembles that of thermolysin, the type example for clan MA and the predicted active site residues for members of this family and thermolysin occur in the motif HEXXH [ (PUBMED:7674922) ]. The M12B proteinases are also referred to as adamalysins or reprolysins [ (PUBMED:27196928) (PUBMED:15922769) ]. The adamalysins are zinc dependent endopeptidases found in snake venom. There are some mammalian proteins such as P78325 and fertilin Q28472 . Fertilin and closely related proteins appear to not have some active site residues and may not be active enzymes. CD156 (also called ADAM8 ( EC 3.4.24 ) or MS2 human) has been implicated in extravasation of leukocytes. |
GO process: | proteolysis (GO:0006508) |
GO function: | metalloendopeptidase activity (GO:0004222) |
This is a PFAM domain. For full annotation and more information, please see the PFAM entry Reprolysin


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Introducing Australia's secret pop sensation, Mari Jean. Her debut album, 'Restless Heart' available now on iTunes, presents a journey through the emotions of a young woman searching for her own identity while wrestling with the consuming nature of love. The video for the lead single, How it Feels is shot by acclaimed cinematographer Susan Stitt, with a hotly intimate lens that reveals an exposed and compelling vulnerability.
The album 'Restless Heart' offers an accomplished body of work with a pop artist whose sensibilities range from the youthful pop of Broken Doll, to the cinematic atmospheric stylings of the stunning One of a Kind. Dance pop is also a natural habitat for this artist with the chillout vibe of Let it Go, and the catchy You Got Me which is bound to tickle the airwaves beyond these shores. Such tracks are connected by a range of pop ballads that chart the emotional journey of a young woman in love and life, at once vulnerable yet finding strength in the resolution expressed in her lead single How it Feels: "I'm the one who makes my own destiny". Mari Jean is in the driver's seat and from the sound and style of this album, she will go far.
'Restless Heart' CD is due out November 30. The digital album release and the lead single, How it Feels is out now on iTunes.


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text: Bernardo is an undertaker. He runs his mortuary business in the same house where he resides. In the front, he has his clients. And in the back, his dysfunctional family lives amongst coffins, wreaths, and the mischievous but nonviolent ghosts that visit on a daily basis. But when a malevolent entity enters the scene, it wreaks havoc on the already fractured household.


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Toward the end of last week, the New York Times published an expose on the Ultra-Orthodox community for ignoring a child molestation problem and for, in some instances, actually shunning and ostracizing the victims instead of seeking justice for them. How is this happening? Well, the Hasidic community reasons that by delivering the suspected pedophile over to the police for investigation, you are therefore transgressing Jewish law as a moser, or an informer. A moser cannot turn his fellow Jew in to a secular non-Jewish authority as derived by Maimonides' extrapolation of ha'poresh mi'darchei tzibbur, or one who actively separates himself from the rest of the community. While I doubt that our great sage Rambam meant to protect the the lowest of the low, some Hasidic communities are nevertheless manipulating the learnings of our elders and in turn, sheltering these deviant monsters.
While I'm not entirely surprised that this sickening predatory activity is plaguing some shtetls (after all, there was even a Law & Order episode about it), I am saddened and shocked by the various reactions. And I don't mean the delusional justifications and rationalizations of the Hasidic community leaders–I mean, the Jews living outside of the Williamsburgs and the Borough Parks. Based on the conversations I have had over the weekend since these necessary articles appeared, I would like to suggest some potential responses to our collective propensity to sweep shamefulness under the rug.
1. "The New York Times likes to pick on the Jews."
This is a complaint I hear whenever the Times covers Israel, Jews, Israeli Jews, the banks, and/or brisket. And in truth, it may have some validity to it. The New York Times known for its liberal slant can oft portray Israel as oppressor, even when it's not warranted. But that's neither here nor there, and it's also something you and I can never prove. Yet when I discussed the two aforementioned articles on the Hasidic community written by Ray Rivera and Sharon Otterman with someone I knew well, he said something along the lines of, "Well, of course, when it comes to the Jews it's a big story. But what about the Church? Why don't they talk about abuse in the Church?"
If you do a search for the words "abuse" and "church" on the nytimes.com, you will find 431,000 results. If you were to however limit it down from the last 150 years to the last seven days, you will still get 19 results. Deflecting the attention from ourselves to another fundamentally flawed and troubled religious system will by no means make our problems go away. Child abuse is a problem regardless of the house of worship, and kudos to the New York Times for bringing this to light even if, according to many, the daily paper still may hate Israel.
2. "It's not worth ruining someone's reputation especially if the accusations aren't true."
First and foremost, shame on Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, the executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, for having a response similar to this. And this is coming from a media outlet that once photographed Roseanne dressed as Hitler. Zwiebel, along with his extremely influential and powerful Orthodox organization, determined last year that Orthodox Jews should not report allegations to the police unless a Rabbi has given permission to do so. He also said that "you can destroy a person's life with a false report." Incidentally, you can also destroy a person's life by putting your hand down his pants without permission. Zwiebel also added that "you speak it over with a rabbi before coming to any definitive conclusion in your own mind," which implies that after an incident, it is important that you first consult with a rabbi so he may convince you that it was not molesting, but just tickling.
3. "I understand the secrecy. After all, if could ruin the shidduch (impending marriage proposals)."
It's hard to believe but this was actually said to me, but it was. And it wasn't said in an effort to implicitly justify the cover-up attempts–the person who had this reaction was simply channeling the Hasidic community's emphasis on yichus, or legacy. If, hypothetically, someone's brother or sister had been accused of being a child molester, this would affect the siblings' chances of getting married. It's sadly accurate in a community that weighs worthiness on, for example, what kind of China they set the Shabbos table with.
I think in an ideal world everyone would agree that one should not be held responsible for his or her family member's actions. However, that is very much the case in the Ultra-Orthodox world. Families have and always will go to extreme measures in maintaining an uncontaminated facade like hiding their televisions in cabinets, keeping diseases or sicknesses obsessively secret, and in some cases, even protecting the identity of a pedophile. Maybe, though, once it would be known that someone's brother was forcibly abusing children and as a result, his sister went years without a suitor, the community would only then react with less tolerance.
What I'm suggesting here is that if there had an old maid problem in Williamsburg, the rabbis would then maybe speak out against child molesting.
4. "We should be able to handle this within our own community. No need to get the police involved."
In March, the Times notes, Satmar Hasidic authorities in Williamsburg posted a Yiddish posters in synagogues warning adults and children to stay away from a community member who they said was molesting boys. But the sign didn't recommend calling the police: "With great pain we must, according to the request of the brilliant rabbis (may they live long and good lives), inform you that the young man," who was named, "is, unfortunately, an injurious person and he is a great danger to our community." This is a step in the right direction, but sadly, it is not very effective.
I know of one definitive example in which a serial child molester–I'm speaking of at least two-dozen individual accusations–left the country, rebuilt his life in Israel, and currently works with children. You would think for this not to be the case, considering the small Jewish geography we occupy, but it's incredibly easy for a violator to re-root his life in another Jewish community and pick up exactly where they left off with a trail of unvindicated victims in his wake.
5. "It's not as bad as "they" make it out to be."
When it comes to harming young children, there should be a zero tolerance policy. I don't care if it only happened once or twice. However, according to journalists Sharon Otterman and Ray Riveria "in recent months, a new program called Kol Tzedek, the Voice of Justice, has contributed to an effective crackdown on child sexual abuse among ultra-Orthodox Jews, saying it had led to 95 arrests involving more than 120 victims." 95 arrests. 120 victims. Williamsburg, we have a problem.
6. "The rabbis understand things we cannot so we must accept it."
The overwhelming response to the reposting of the Times articles on the comprehensive Orthodox Jewish blog Vo Is Neius is that the notion of moser should never apply in regards to abuse especially when considering "dina d'malchusoh dina," that we are obligated to follow the laws of the land we occupy. These commenters and readers are for the most part observent G-d fearing people, yet allowing the police to intervene seems obvious to them. This shouldn't be seen as a contradiction.
If, in eventuality, the rabbis' devotees, the frequent shul goers, and the check-writing participants speak out and demand a zero tolerance policy, maybe the molesting business wouldn't be so good. But by the communal passivity, rabbis remaining silent, and the continued blind eye, they are ostensibly supporting the continuation of it. And it may come to a point when the crying of our children gets too difficult to ignore even as the words of some rabbis try to drown them out.


text:
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text:
Gloria Uhler is one very creative woman. She shares a lot of inspirations - home decor, papercrafts, sewing, jewelry making - on her Domestic - DivaOnline. I've shared some of her jewelry tutorials before. One recent post was about how she used hardware hinges for polymer clay bracelets. Of all the jewelry techniques she uses, polymer clay is her favorite.
Gloria has an incredible ability to come up with so many different ways to connect bracelet parts. The 25 projects are divided into 8 sections, each of which deals with a specific approach. The book focuses on the step by step pictures. The final project images are on the small side which is a pity because Gloria's designs are wonderful.
The wire section was one of my favorites as the designer used her imagination to use wire in totally different ways. Wire coil hinges is just one of them!
Coiled Wire Cane |
Chained Chiclet |
Copper Front Mount Hinge |
Celtic Multi-Cord |
This book assumes you know how to bake/cure clay, sand, buff and are familiar with glazes etc. So there are no specific instructions on those steps.
It is however filled with lots of tips and ideas to take your own clay creations much further. Gloria also covers how she uses a stencil cutting machine not only to cut her own stencils but to cut clay as well! That opens up new directions!
Highly recommended for clay artists who love to make bracelets! Having said that, I think many of the techniques could also be applied to some necklace designs.
If you'd like to win a copy of Hinged Clay Bracelets: New Ways To Link Polymer Clay Bracelet Parts please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.
Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.
This giveaway is for US and Canada only.
Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments. (The exception is Facebook - just like/comment on the giveaway status there!!)
It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, May 16 , 2016. I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!
I receive books and products for review. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation.
Before You Go:
- How to Make Coiled Wire Hinges to Connect 2 Hole Beads
- Awesome Polymer Clay Trilobite Pendant Tutorial
- More Polymer Clay Jewelry Tutorials
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Wire JewelryTips -Jewelry Business Tips


text:
King James Version
(§tstrong number)¤¤¤ĺ©M¦XĄ»
2 Samuel chapter 19
total: 43
1 Samuel
1 Kings
And word was given to Joab that the king was weeping and sorrowing for Absalom.
And the salvation of that day was changed to sorrow for all the people: for it was said to the people, The king is in bitter grief for his son.
And the people made their way back to the town quietly and secretly, as those who are shamed go secretly when they go in flight from the war.
But the king, covering his face, gave a great cry, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
And Joab came into the house to the king and said, Today you have put to shame the faces of all your servants who even now have kept you and your sons and your daughters and your wives and all your women safe from death;
For your haters, it seems, are dear to you, and your friends are hated. For you have made it clear that captains and servants are nothing to you: and now I see that if Absalom was living and we had all been dead today, it would have been right in your eyes.
So get up now, and go out and say some kind words to your servants; for, by the Lord, I give you my oath, that if you do not go out, not one of them will keep with you tonight; and that will be worse for you than all the evil which has overtaken you from your earliest years.
Then the king got up and took his seat near the town-door. And word was given to all the people that the king was in the public place: and all the people came before the king. Now all the men of Israel had gone back in flight to their tents.
And through all the tribes of Israel the people were having arguments, saying, The king made us safe from the hands of those who were against us and made us free from the hands of the Philistines; and now he has gone in flight from the land, because of Absalom.
And Absalom, whom we made a ruler over us, is dead in the fight. So now why do you say nothing about getting the king back? And word of what all Israel was saying came to the king.
And King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, Say to the responsible men of Judah, Why are you the last to take steps to get the king back to his house?
You are my brothers, my bone and my flesh; why are you the last to get the king back again?
And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God's punishment be on me, if I do not make you chief of the army before me at all times in place of Joab!
And the hearts of the men of Judah were moved like one man; so that they sent to the king, saying, Come back, with all your servants.
So the king came back, and came as far as Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, meeting the king there, to take him back with them over Jordan.
And Shimei, the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, got up quickly and went down with the men of Judah for the purpose of meeting King David;
And with him a thousand men of Benjamin, and Ziba, the servant of Saul, with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, came rushing to Jordan before the king,
And kept going across the river to take the people of the king's house over, and to do whatever was desired by the king. And Shimei, the son of Gera, went down on his face in the dust before the king, when he was about to go over Jordan,
And said to him, Let me not be judged as a sinner in your eyes, O my lord, and do not keep in mind the wrong I did on the day when my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, or take it to heart.
For your servant is conscious of his sin: and so, as you see, I have come today, the first of all the sons of Joseph, for the purpose of meeting my lord the king.
But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said, Is not death the right fate for Shimei, because he has been cursing the one marked by the holy oil?
And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you put yourselves against me today? is it right for any man in Israel to be put to death today? for I am certain today that I am king in Israel.
So the king said to Shimei, You will not be put to death. And the king gave him his oath.
And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son, came down for the purpose of meeting the king; his feet had not been cared for or his hair cut or his clothing washed from the day when the king went away till the day when he came back in peace.
Now when he had come from Jerusalem to see the king, the king said to him, Why did you not come with me, Mephibosheth?
And he said in answer, Because of the deceit of my servant, my lord king: for I, your servant, said to him, You are to make ready an ass and on it I will go with the king, for your servant has not the use of his feet.
He has given you a false account of me: but my lord the king is like the angel of God: do then whatever seems good to you.
For all my father's family were only dead men before my lord the king: and still you put your servant among those whose place is at the king's table. What right then have I to say anything more to the king?
And the king said, Say nothing more about these things. I say, Let there be a division of the land between Ziba and you.
And Mephibosheth said, Let him take it all, now that my lord the king has come back to his house in peace!
And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went on as far as Jordan with the king to take him across Jordan.
Now Barzillai was a very old man, as much as eighty years old: and he had given the king everything he had need of, while he was at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.
And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will take care of you in Jerusalem.
And Barzillai said to the king, How much of my life is still before me, for me to go up to Jerusalem with the king?
I am now eighty years old: good and bad are the same to me; have meat and drink any taste for me now? am I able to take pleasure in the voices of men or women in song? why then am I to be a trouble to my lord the king?
Your servant's desire was only to take the king over Jordan; why is the king to give me such a reward?
Let your servant now go back again, so that when death comes to me, it may be in my town and by the resting-place of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham: let him go with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you.
And the king said in answer, Let Chimham go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you: and whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.
Then all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over: and the king gave Barzillai a kiss, with his blessing; and he went back to his place.
So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went with him: and all the people of Judah, as well as half the people of Israel, took the king on his way.
Then the men of Israel came to the king and said, Why have our countrymen of Judah taken you away in secret and come over Jordan with the king and all his family, because all his people are David's men?
And all the men of Judah gave this answer to the men of Israel, Because the king is our near relation: why then are you angry about this? have we taken any of the king's food, or has he given us any offering?
And in answer to the men of Judah, the men of Israel said, We have ten parts in the king, and we are the first in order of birth: why did you make nothing of us? and were we not the first to make suggestions for getting the king back? And the words of the men of Judah were more violent than the words of the men of Israel.
1 Samuel
2 Samuel chapter 18
2 Samuel chapter 20
1 Kings
King James Version
(§tstrong number)¤¤¤ĺ©M¦XĄ»


text: The United States National Parks Service has been around since 1916 and continues to offer volunteer opportunities for thousands of individuals. Tim Muma speaks with Ernestine White, the national volunteer coordinator, about the organization's mission and goals. Ernestine lets the listeners know what particular activities are available throughout the year and how volunteering can help all of us.


text:
IDC recently released their tablet market estimates for Q4 2012 and I have to say, the figures were surprising even to me. I have been commenting on the similarities between demand patterns in the smartphone & tablet markets for some time now, stating that Android tablets would overtake the iPad by mid-2013. Quite surprisingly, that already seems to have occurred. Let's take a look at the sustainability of this change of guard.
Estimating Android Tablet Shipments in Q4
Let's begin by first converting IDC's shipment figures by OEM to shipment figures by platform. This is usually not very difficult, as the only significant non-iPad and non-Android tablets on the market were the Blackberry Playbook and the HP Touchpad. However, with the launch of Windows 8 and Windows RT based devices, we now need to take them into account as well. We know that the total tablet shipment volume in Q4 2012 was 52.5 million units, of which the iPad accounted for 22.9 million units (incl. the iPad Mini). From Blackberry's results, we know that 255,000 Blackberry Playbooks were shipped in the quarter (a rough guide as the quarter definitions are off by a month). IDC also mentioned that Microsoft Surface RT shipments totaled just 900,000 units in Q4. Combining this with Digitimes' estimate of 2 million shipments of Windows RT based devices, we get a total of 1.1 million shipments of Windows RT devices, excluding the Surface RT - we can add another 0.9 million shipments of Windows 8 based tablets (given the widely reported lack of availability). Excluding the Blackberry Playbooks and Windows based tablets gives us a total of 26.4 million Android tablet shipments, for 50.4% of the market.As I had predicted, while the iPad Mini helped boost iPad demand, it did nothing to slow down the ascent of Android tablets. Android tablets have now outpaced the iPad's sequential growth in 6 out of the last 8 quarters and I expect this general trend to continue.
Impact of Emerging Market Demand on Q1 Shipments
As we saw last year, tablet shipments usually see a steep decline in Q1. This is driven partly by weaker sequential demand and partly by inventory build-up into the channel. Kindle Fire shipments shrank by more than 85% sequentially because of an inventory build-up, while demand seasonality caused shipments of all other Android tablets to shrink by 44% (shipments of Samsung & Asus devices shrank by 20% and 40% respectively). This seasonality in demand was driven by the holiday season in the US & Europe, which were the core market for tablets. Demand in emerging markets tends to be less seasonal, so as emerging market demand grows, seasonality should reduce. More importantly, mature market focused OEMs should see greater seasonality of demand (primarily Amazon, B&N and to an extent, Apple).
At this point, since we don't have much data to accurately estimate the impact of emerging market tablet demand, my estimates can be considered conservative. New low cost offerings from various Android tablet OEMs (primarily Samsung, Acer, Lenovo, Asus) could change demand patterns and nullify seasonality to an extent.
iPad - I expect iPad shipments to shrink by roughly 20% (slightly better than Q1 2012) to ~18 million units, as any delayed iPad Mini purchases are likely to be balanced out by shrinking demand for the full-size iPad. In addition, the iPad Mini should see stiff competition from lower priced devices in emerging markets.
Amazon - Kindle Fire shipments are likely to see the largest drop, by about 60%, to ~2.5 million units - I've considered a smaller drop this time as initial launch-driven channel filling occurred in Q3, as opposed to Q4.
Samsung - Samsung tablet shipments should fall by 20% (in line with Q1 2012) again to ~6 million units. Samsung's marketing muscle could help minimize the impact of demand seasonality.
Asus - I've forecasted a 20% decline in Asus' shipments as well, to about 2.5 million units. This is because Asus already seems to have shipped 6 million Nexus 7 tablets until the end of January (the count was 5 million at the end of Q4). So if Asus has shipped ~1 million Nexus 7 units in January, another 1.5 million total tablet shipments in the quarter seems fairly reasonable.
Other Android Tablet OEMs - I've considered a 40% decline in shipments of other Android tablet vendors (incl. Acer & Lenovo). These vendors saw a sequential decline of more than 50% in Q1 2012, but stronger emerging market demand and lower cost offerings should help them hold on. I consider this segment to be the most sensitive to emerging market growth.
Windows 8 & Windows RT Tablets - Given the low sell-through rate and high returns seen in this segment, I see a sequential decline in shipments. The price of the Surface Pro should do nothing to stimulate demand.
This puts the total shipments of Android tablets at ~17 million units, about one million units less than the iPad. However, I expect shipment growth of Android tablets to continue to outpace the iPad after Q1, resulting in a permanent change of guard. Of course, greater than expected emerging market demand could put Android tablets firmly in the driver's seat in Q1 itself.


text:
Do You Know Your Stories?
Begin by clicking on one of the white squares. After reading the clue, type your answer in the white squares and press Enter/Return. When you believe you are finished, click "Check Puzzle" to see if you are correct. Incorrect letters will appear in red.
Good Luck!


text:
Club Training events are marked with a hash symbol. If you are new to running and would like to join in, just turn up and join in. No obligation to become a member of the club, but we are sure you will get the running bug and want to join our friendly club.
To change the calendar to a monthly view, simply click the "View as List" and change it to "month".
To save the events from our calendar onto your own mobile phone or device, simply save a copy by selecting the "Export Listed Events" icon.


text:
The White House is working with congressional leaders to shape a resolution that authorizes the type of military action that would send a "clear message" to President Bashar Assad and cripple the Syrian leader's "capability to use chemical weapons not just now but in the future," President Obama said Tuesday.
Sitting with leaders from both major parties, the president also said he is confident lawmakers are "going to be able to come up with something that hits that mark."
While Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told NPR earlier in the day that he believes the president is leaning toward missile strikes that would also influence the course of Syria's civil war and effectively assist Assad's foes, Obama did not go that far in his comments. The White House has previously said it is not seeking "regime change" in Syria, though it does want to see Assad step down.
On Saturday, Obama said that while he believes he has the authority to strike Syria, he would seek congressional authorization. Lawmakers began considering his request Tuesday. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee convened a "top secret/closed" session this morning. Later, at 2:30 p.m. ET., the committee plans to hold an open hearing. Set to testify: Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.
As for the prospects of getting congressional approval of military action, Politico writes that "the Democrat-controlled Senate likely offers a far easier path to passage for Obama on the Syria resolution than the GOP-run House, where dozens of members on both sides of the aisle have either come out in opposition to Obama's call for military strikes against Syria or look like they could so."
The House is not due back from its summer recess until Monday.
Update at 11:20 a.m. ET. Boehner Supports Obama's Call:
According to Reuters and The Associated Press, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) emerged from the meeting at the White House saying he will support the president's call for action against Syria and he is urging other Republicans to do the same.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Aire Thong
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- Please refer to size chart to ensure you choose the correct size.
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- No rear coverage.
- Pouch is seamed for support and definition.
- Wash Separately, Drip Dry, do not Bleach.


text:
Perl Monk, Perl Meditation | |
PerlMonks |
Markup in the Monasteryby SiteDocClan (Initiate) |
on Mar 17, 2008 at 22:39 UTC ( [id://674668]=sitefaqlet: print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
Markup in the MonasteryChapter 1There are just two basic markup elements you MUST use when posting a comment or question:
...
 Paragraph tags, so the narrative part of your node won't be an unreadable mismash. ...and <c>...</c> Code tags around code and data (which can be cut and pasted direct from your editor). And now you know those, you can go back to creating your node unless you'd like to learn more. Chapter 2Here's a synopsis of important tags and their actions:
Chapter 3PM markup code is NOT entirely w3c html 4.01 standard nor is it XHTML, so even if you're expert please scan these notes. Textual content:Ordinary paragraphing is accomplished with
...
 tags, which (imprecisely) allow you to have your text appear in what may be called "conventional" paragraphs; that is with blank lines between paragraphs. That's highly recommended, as it makes your node easier to read. Links: Please, do NOT use something. Instead, create links (especially those to nodes at PM) using [...] The ... inside the square brackets may be a node's title or its id://(number). Optionally, you can override the target's title with your chosen alternate by adding |(some word or phrase) after the id or title before closing the square brackets. For example, [Super Search|Did you try to find that here?] will render as Did you try to find that here?. More extensive and sophisticated information can be found in What shortcuts can I use for linking to other information?. Lists: lists can be either ordered (decimal numbered - using Roman numerals or letters is beyond the scope of this note) or unordered (bulleted). One of each follows; first the ordered list, created with this:

line 1 of list

line 2 of list

and so on

The unordered list uses
...
 around the list item
...
 tags:
... can be used to enclose words, phrases or sentences you want to have appear in boldface. As a courtesy, do NOT abuse this... and use the preview function to check. Similarly, ... can be used to italicize content. <tt>...</tt> tags surrounding a word or phrase (commonly, a single key word or symbol) cause that word or phrase to be rendered in something akin to a system font; eg: key words within the surrounding text. Heading tags,
...
, and smaller (through
) may be used. Head tags, unsurprisingly, cause their content to render as headlines. For example
A headline

A smaller headline
Any <hn> ... </hn> tag pair can be thought of as implying line breaks above and below (absent manipulation with css or other techniques far beyond the scope of this node). Please note that
 and
are discouraged here.
...
 is used to indent a (brief, please) segment of your text and works like this (the fixed width pseudo-tags, below, illustrate the actual useage):
This is a blockquote. Note that it is indented both left and right and offset top and bottom by a blank line. This blockquote rambles on to ensure that regardless of the width of the viewer's browser window, there are multiple lines inside the blockquote. Note that there are no paragraph tags around this paragraph although using them would be allowed...and that it is permissible to include, for example, textual markupWhat's more a blockquote can include multiple paragraphs. Again, this is padded with enough non-substantive verbiage to make it wrap in most user's browser windows.

 If you find it necessary (and you should make every effort to ensure it is NOT) to create a very long post, please use <readmore> ... </readmore tags. Should your post make it to the front page, the readmore segment collapses to a link by which the interested reader can see the entire post. Puzzle answers aka spoilersIf you post a puzzle, enclose the answer in <spoiler></spoiler> tags, so you don't spoil the puzzle fun for others.Detail: <spoiler>...</spoiler> tags are intended to (temporarily) redact (in the intel world's sense; "black out") some brief piece of text or code whose visibility would spoil a thread for some future reader. Example: <Reveal this spoiler or all in this thread> In a simple case, the material inside the spoiler tags will become visible when highlighted; the general idea being that a little more work is required to see the content than simply viewing a node.The reader's preference settings may cause <spoiler> tags to be rendered in unexpected ways. Note that when wrapped in <c> tags the </c> Nesting: Check for proper nesting. For example, if you open a paragraph tag, close it before beginning a blockquote or code segment. And that leads us directly to the next important pair of tags. Code:Use code tags, <c>..</c> (or ...), to post code and data. Doing so preserves your indentation, blank lines and those symbols for which use of character-entities is conventional elsewhere. Char-entities are discussed further, below A typical use would be to cut'n'paste your code into a PM node Code tags cause the code (or data) they enclose to appear in a distinguishable font. If you have turned on line-numbering in the section on "Code Listing Setings" in Display Settings the code lines will be numbered. The following is inside <c>...</c> tags. Note the download link, above. It appears after each stand-alone code block and allows readers to retrieve the code or data, without the line numbers. Note that in line 11 the "&" did NOT have to be written as a character entity (&). If you're not seeing line numbering, see that setting in Display Settings. Tags You Should NOT UseAt first blush, the
 ...
 pair may look like an alternative to code tags... BUT DON'T USE IT HERE chiefly because
...
 tags will not persuade the Monastery to provide a download link for the contents of the
... and while it is now supposed to wrap lines that are too long for the viewer's browser window, there are ways Monks could use CSS that would defeat that. So, please. don't use
...
. Inserting a
 tag forces a newline at the point at which it's inserted. Monastery documents differ on its acceptability. Using
...
 tags is NOT deprecated, but unless you're expert in .html, you probably shouldn't use them here. ...  tags are frowned upon. Don't use them except in extraordinary circumstances. Character EntitiesPlease read carefully the hints which appear below the text entry box when you're creating a node. Outside code tags
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Love and Tolerance
Others is our Code
A Fragment of History
By Bill W.
AA's are always asking: "Where did the Twelve Steps come from?" In the last analysis, perhaps nobody knows. Yet some of the events which led to their formulation are as clear to me as though they took place yesterday.
So far as people were concerned, the main channels of inspiration for our Steps were three in number -- the Oxford Groups, Dr. William D. Silkworth of Townes Hospital and the famed psychologist, William James, called by some the father of modern psychology. The story of how these streams of influence were brought together and how they led to the writing of our Twelve Steps is exciting and in spots downright incredible.
Many of us will remember the Oxford Groups as a modern evangelical movement which flourished in the 1920's and early 30's, led by a one-time Lutheran minister, Dr. Frank Buchman. The Oxford Groups of that day threw heavy emphasis on personal work, one member with another. AA's Twelfth Step had its origin in that vital practice. The moral backbone of the "O.G." was absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute love. They also practiced a type of confession, which they called "sharing"; the making of amends for harms done they called "restitution." They believed deeply in their "quiet time," a meditation practiced by groups and individuals alike, in which the guidance of God was sought for every detail of living, great or small.
These basic ideas were not new; they could have been found elsewhere. But the saving thing for us first alcoholics who contacted the Oxford Groupers was that they laid great stress on these particular principles. And fortunate for us was the fact that the Groupers took special pains not to interfere with one's personal religious views. Their society, like ours later on, saw the need to be strictly non-denominational.
In the late summer of 1934, my well-loved alcoholic friend and schoolmate "Ebby" had fallen in with these good folks and had promptly sobered up. Being an alcoholic, and rather on the obstinate side, he hadn't been able to "buy" all the Oxford Group ideas and attitudes. Nevertheless, he was moved by their deep sincerity and felt mighty grateful for the fact that their ministrations had, for the time being, lifted his obsession to drink..
When he arrived in New York in the late fall of 1934, Ebby thought at once of me. On a bleak November day he rang up. Soon he was looking at me across our kitchen table at 182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York. As I remember that conversation, he constantly used phrases like these: "I found I couldn't run my own life;" "I had to get honest with myself and somebody else;" "I had to make restitution for the damage I had done;" "I had to pray to God for guidance and strength, even though I wasn't sure there was any God;" "And after I'd tried hard to do these things I found that my craving for alcohol left." Then over and over Ebby would say something like this: "Bill, it isn't a bit like being on the water wagon. You don't fight the desire to drink - you get released from it. I never had such a feeling before."
Such was the sum of what Ebby had extracted from his Oxford Group friends and had transmitted to me that day. While these simple ideas were not new, they certainly hit me like tons of brick. Today we understand just why that was...one alcoholic was talking to another as no one else can.
Two or three weeks later, December 11th to be exact, I staggered into the Charles B. Townes Hospital, that famous drying-out emporium on Central Park West, New York City. I'd been there before, so I knew and already loved the doctor in charge -- Dr. Silkworth. It was he who was soon to contribute a very great idea without which AA could never had succeeded. For years he had been proclaiming alcoholism an illness, an obsession of the mind coupled with an allergy of the body. By now I knew this meant me. I also understood what a fatal combination these twin ogres could be. Of course, I'd once hoped to be among the small percentage of victims who now and then escape their vengeance. But this outside hope was now gone. I was about to hit bottom. That verdict of science -- the obsession that condemned me to drink and the allergy that condemned me to die -- was about to do the trick. That's where the medical science, personified by this benign little doctor, began to fit it in. Held in the hands of one alcoholic talking to the next, this double-edged truth was a sledgehammer which could shatter the tough alcoholic's ego at depth and lay him wide open to the grace of God.
In my case it was of course Dr. Silkworth who swung the sledge while my friend Ebby carried to me the spiritual principles and the grace which brought on my sudden spiritual awakening at the hospital three days later. I immediately knew that I was a free man. And with this astonishing experience came a feeling of wonderful certainty that great numbers of alcoholics might one day enjoy the priceless gift which had been bestowed upon me.
Third Influence
At this point a third stream of influence entered my life through the pages of William James' book, "Varieties of Religious Experience." Somebody had brought it to my hospital room. Following my sudden experience, Dr. Silkworth had take great pains to convince me that I was not hallucinated. But William James did even more. Not only, he said, could spiritual experiences make people saner, they could transform men and women so that they could do, feel and believe what had hitherto been impossible to them. It mattered little whether these awakenings were sudden or gradual, their variety could be almost infinite. But the biggest payoff of that noted book was this: in most of the cases described, those who had been transformed were hopeless people. In some controlling area of their lives they had met absolute defeat. Well, that was me all right. In complete defeat, with no hope or faith whatever, I had made an appeal to a higher Power. I had taken Step One of today's AA program -- "admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable." I'd also take Step Three - "made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to God as we understood him." Thus was I set free. It was just as simple, yet just as mysterious, as that.
These realizations were so exciting that I instantly joined up with the Oxford Groups. But to their consternation I insisted on devoting myself exclusively to drunks. This was disturbing to the O.G.'s on two counts. Firstly, they wanted to help save the whole world. Secondly, their luck with drunks had been poor. Just as I joined they had been working over a batch of alcoholics who had proved disappointing indeed. One of them, it was rumored, had flippantly cast his shoe through a valuable stained glass window of an Episcopal church across the alley from O.G. headquarters. Neither did they take kindly to my repeated declaration that it shouldn't take long to sober up all the drunks in the world. They rightly declared that my conceit was still immense.
Something Missing
After some six months of violent exertion with scores of alcoholics which I found at a nearby mission and Townes Hospital, it began to look like the Groupers were right. I hadn't sobered up anybody. In Brooklyn we always had a houseful of drinkers living with us, sometimes as many as five. My valiant wife, Lois, once arrived home from work to find three of them fairly tight. They were whaling each other with two-by-fours. Though events like these slowed me down somewhat, the persistent conviction that a way to sobriety could be found never seemed to leave me. There was, though, one bright spot. My sponsor, Ebby, still clung precariously to his new-found sobriety.
What was the reason for all these fiascoes? If Ebby and I could achieve sobriety, why couldn't all the rest find it too? Some of those we'd worked on certainly wanted to get well. We speculated day and night why nothing much had happened to them. Maybe they couldn't stand the spiritual pace of the Oxford Group's four absolutes of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. In fact some of the alcoholics declared that this was the trouble. The aggressive pressure upon them to get good overnight would make them fly high as geese for a few weeks and then flop dismally. They complained, too, about another form of coercion - something the Oxford Groupers called "guidance for others." A "team" composed of non-alcoholic Groupers would sit down with an alcoholic and after a "quiet time" would come up with precise instructions as to how the alcoholic should run his own life. As grateful as we were to our O.G. friends, this was sometimes tough to take. It obviously had something to do with the wholesale skidding that went on.
But this wasn't the entire reason for failure. After months I saw the trouble was mainly in me. I had become very aggressive, very cocksure. I talked a lot about my sudden spiritual experience, as though it was something very special. I had been playing the double role of teacher and preacher. In my exhortations I'd forgotten all about the medical side of our malady, and that need for deflation at depth so emphasized by William James had been neglected. We weren't using that medical sledgehammer that Dr. Silkworth had so providentially given us.
Finally, one day, Dr. Silkworth took me back down to my right size. Said he, "Bill, why don't you quit talking so much about that bright light experience of yours, it sounds too crazy. Though I'm convince that nothing but better morals will make alcoholics really well, I do think you have got the cart before the horse. The point is that alcoholics won't buy all this moral exhortation until they convince themselves that they must. If I were you I'd go after them on the medical basis first. While it is never done any good for me to tell them how fatal their malady is, it might be a very different story if you, a formerly hopeless alcoholic, gave them the bad news. Bemuse of this identification you naturally have with alcoholics, you might be able to penetrate where I can't. Give them the medical business first, and give it to them hard. This might soften them up so they will accept the principles that will really get them well."
Then Came Akron
Shortly after this history-making conversation, I found myself in Akron, Ohio, on a business venture which promptly collapsed. Alone in the town, I was scared to death of getting drunk. I was no longer a teacher or a preacher, I was an alcoholic who knew that he needed another alcoholic as much as that one could possibly need me. Driven by that urge, I was soon face to face with Dr. Bob. It was at once evident that Dr. Bob knew more of the spiritual things than I did. He also had been in touch with the Oxford Groupers at Akron. But somehow he simply couldn't get sober. Following Dr. Silkworth's advice, I used the medical sledgehammer. I told him what alcoholism was and just how fatal it could be. Apparently this did something to Dr. Bob. On June 10, 1935, he sobered up, never to drink again. When, in 1939, Dr. Bob's story first appeared in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, he put one paragraph of it in italics. Speaking of me, he said: "Of far more importance was the fact that he was the first living human with whom I had ever talked, who knew what he was talking about in regard to alcoholism from actual experience."
The Missing Link
Dr. Silkworth had indeed supplied us the missing link without which the chain of principles now forged into our Twelve Steps could never have been complete. Then and there, the spark that was to become Alcoholics Anonymous had been struck.
During the next three years after Dr. Bob's recovery our growing groups at Akron, New York and Cleveland evolved the so-called word-of-mouth program of our pioneering time. As we commenced to form a society separate from the Oxford Group, we began to state our principles something like this:
1. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol
2. We got honest with ourselves
3. We got honest with another person, in confidence
4. We made amends for harms done others
5. We worked with other alcoholics without demand for prestige or money
6. We prayed to God to help us to do these things as best we could
Though these principles were advocated according to the whim or liking of each of us, and though in Akron and Cleveland they still stuck by the O.G. absolutes of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love, this was the gist of our message to incoming alcoholics up to 1939, when our present Twelve Steps were put to paper.
I well remember the evening on which the Twelve Steps was written. I was lying in bed quite dejected and suffering from one of my imaginary ulcer attacks. Four chapters of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, had been roughed out and read in meetings at Akron and New York. We quickly found that everybody wanted to be an author. The hassles as to what should go into our new book were terrific. For example, some wanted a purely psychological book which would draw in alcoholics without scaring them. We could tell them about the "God business" afterwards. A few, led by our wonderful southern friend, Fitz M., wanted a fairly religious book infused with some of the dogma we had picked up from the churches and missions which had tried to help us. The louder the arguments, the more I felt in the middle. It appeared that I wasn't going to be the author at all. I was only going to be an umpire who would decide the contents of the book. This didn't mean, though, that there wasn't terrific enthusiasm for the undertaking. Every one of us was wildly excited at the possibility of getting our message before all those countless alcoholics who still didn't know.
Having arrived at Chapter Five, it seemed high time to state what our program really was. I remember running over in my mind the word-of-mouth phrases then in current use. Jotting these down, they added up to the six named above. Then came the idea that our program ought to be more accurately and clearly stated. Distant readers would have to have a precise set of principles. Knowing the alcoholic's ability to rationalize, something airtight would have to be written. We couldn't let the reader wiggle out anywhere. Besides, a more complete statement would help in the chapters to come where we would need to show exactly how the recovery program ought to be worked.
12 Steps in 30 Minutes
At length I began to write on a cheap yellow tablet. I split the word-of-mouth program up into smaller pieces, meanwhile enlarging its scope considerably. Uninspired as I felt, I was surprised that in a short time, perhaps half an hour, I had set down certain principles which, on being counted, turned out to be twelve in number. And for some unaccountable reason, I had moved the idea of God into the Second Step, right up front. Besides, I had named God very liberally throughout the other steps. In one of the steps I had even suggested that the newcomer get down on his knees.
When this document was shown to our New York meeting the protests were many and loud. Our agnostic friends didn't go at all for the idea of kneeling. Others said we were talking altogether too much about God. And anyhow, why should there be twelve steps when we had done fine on six? Let's keep it simple, they said.
This sort of heated discussion went on for days and nights. But out of it all there came a ten-strike for Alcoholics Anonymous. Our agnostic contingent, speared by Hank P. and Jim B., finally convinced us that we must make it easier for people like themselves by using such terms as "a Higher Power" or "God as we understand Him!" Those expressions, as we so well know today, have proved lifesavers for many an alcoholic. They have enabled thousands of us to make a beginning where none could have been made had we left the steps just as I originally wrote them. Happily for us there were no other changes in the original draft and the number of steps stood at twelve. Little did we then guess that our Twelve Steps would soon be widely approved by clergymen of all denominations and even by our latter-day friends, the psychiatrists.
This little fragment of history ought to convince the most skeptical that nobody invented Alcoholics Anonymous.
It just grew...by the grace of God.
Copyright © AA Grapevine, Inc, July 1953


text:
According to the Dodgers' own press release, parking around the Coliseum around the USC campus will cost $25, a $10 increase over Dodger Stadium parking prices last year.
Parking on the USC Campus will be available at five gates. Lots open at 8 a.m. with each slot costing $25.
Hopefully Frank doesn't get any more parking-rate-increase ideas for the regular season.
To be fair, the Dodgers are also offering free parking at Dodger Stadium and a complimentary shuttle service before and after the game (reservations recommended at (323) 224-1507).
And, they even suggest some public transportation ideas via Metro. Hmm, what a novel idea, public transportation options!


text:
How do I Soft Delete a site from the Sites tool?
Soft Delete is the default deletion method, and can be done from either the Sites tool in the Administration Workspace, or the Worksite Setup tool for users with deletion permissions.
Go to Sites.
Select the Sites tool from the Tool Menu in the Administration Workspace.
Locate the site you want to soft delete.
Find the site you want to delete be performing a search. For example:
- Enter a search term, such as the site title.
- Click Search.
- Click on the site id in the search results to go to the detail page for that site.


text:
With President Obama's Nov. 6 re-election, so continues the era of our truly modern First Lady. For all her Ivy League education and confident activism, Michelle Obama is also a controversial fashion icon. Though she carefully mixes high and low pieces and designers, she also has attracted flak for placing such emphasis on the fashion industry. Still, her influence is indelible and reflects a long history of First Ladies as trend setters. In honor of Presidents' Day, we took a look back at some of the First Ladies with their own strong senses of personal style.
PHOTOS: Fashion for the First Lady and More: Thom Browne's Remarkable Designs


text:
In college I was told to wear a sexy costume on Halloween. Not by any one person of course, that's not how it works. No one comes up to you and says, "Late October is the only acceptable time for you to express your sexuality." But you see it on every television and in every magazine. You hear it from your friends and classmates. The message is clear, and it has no acceptable opposing point of view.
I never needed Halloween to show some skin in public. I had, in fact, become quite accustomed to it. It started some time in high school when I realized that most of my bathing suits covered me less than most of my underwear. If I was fine wearing the former in front of everyone at Wild Waves, I saw no problem wearing the latter for a play or a party. They're just boobs, after all. Everyone at the beach can see them.
My comfort with being scantily clad in public made other people very uncomfortable. This pleased me to no end. Good, I thought. Be uncomfortable. If you're so wrapped up in your own bizarre misconceptions about sex that you think a man's bare chest is of no consequence and a woman's bare chest signals the fall of civilization, then you deserve to feel uncomfortable.
In college I majored in drama and dance and often had to change my clothes between classes and activities. No bother, I thought, I'll just do it right here. Right here in the theater, right here in the lounge, right here where other people may or may not be watching. These are my friends, and this is just skin. Proximity is not intimacy. I was very careful about who touched my bare skin, but I didn't care who saw it.
Being comfortable in a bra makes you into something of a spectacle. There was always a bit of shock on the faces of the accidental observers. But every time someone saw me casually switch into yoga pants in the hall, their shock softened. It was working. Perhaps my classmates were still fetishizing women's skin in general, but they were no longer fetishizing mine in particular. Familiarity with my bare stomach took away the associated stigma.
I started to wonder: What if my sexy Halloween costumes could be this confrontational? Halloween is normally the one night a year where women are allowed to be publicly sexy without being labeled as sluts. The fall air was filled with sexy pirates, sexy cops, sexy nuns. How could I compete with that?
This is how:
I spent months on the costume, and still didn't have time to make all of the accessory pieces. But I did it. My top was made of wire and Crayola Model Magic. It didn't hold my breasts in so much as it floated directly in front of them. I was very exposed, and people certainly noticed. It's one thing to see Carrie Fisher be mostly naked in a movie, it's another to see a friend of yours do it at a house party. I talked to party-goers about the outfit, the skin, the exposure. I was a one-woman political conversation piece. My plan had worked. I was on to something.
I created a set of rules:
- The costume had to be inherently skimpy, not just a sexy version of something. I didn't want to be a "sexy witch" or a "sexy nurse." I wanted to be as accurate and authentic to the original as possible.
- The outfit had to be well known. I didn't want to spend the whole night explaining myself to people. If they didn't recognize me, they would be the weird ones.
- There couldn't be a cheap, easy, popular version of the costume readily available. No one likes to run into themselves at a party.
Princess Leia in the gold bikini was an easy pick for all three rules. The following year I was Tinkerbell in her signature mini-dress, a costume I'd always wanted to wear. She was a little tame, however, and I did run into another Tinkerbell. Clearly I needed to up my game.
The third year of my new costume tradition I was Leeloo from The Fifth Element, wearing the white thermal bandages from when she first appears. It wasn't easy creating straight lines on a curved figure, but by now I had a sewing machine and considerable determination. I spent hours watching clips of the film and sections of the costume test footage on the DVD extras. I spray-painted a wig. I showed some serious underboob. People applauded my efforts.
Years went by and I found new challenges. My pool of potential characters grew smaller. There are only so many costumes that fit every one of my rules, and over time I allowed myself to go lax on some of them. Lara Croft wasn't very skimpy. Maid Marion from Robin Hood: Men in Tights wasn't as recognizable. There was a good chance I'd run into another Wonder Woman, and very few people know about Molotov Cocktease.
But the point, and the reactions, were the same. Because let's get real, I was dressing up as the symbols of my own oppression. These were the women our culture throws in front of us for the express purpose of being objectified. Han Solo is imprisoned in carbonite, Princess Leia is imprisoned in a bikini. Batman wears body armor, Wonder Woman wears a bustier. Molotov herself is a commentary on the ridiculous outfits we put our female characters in while still expecting them to backflip their way through lasers.
And we accept it. I believe the main reason we find it so acceptable is that we've trained ourselves to ignore the ridiculous. When we see a women in a video game sporting a bikini top and a semi-automatic, it's not shocking. It's nothing new, it's nothing to question. And when we stop questioning it, we stop thinking it's strange. That is, until that girl from your English class shows up to the party wearing nothing but metal panties and a wig. Suddenly it's not just a character. It's not just Hollywood. Because you, man or woman, no longer have the luxury of voyeurism. It's not a far-off Her, but a right-here Me. I am standing in front of you, showing you just how ridiculous I can be. I have destroyed the suspension of disbelief. My body suit is taped directly onto my skin, I can't go to the bathroom, and I am the most comfortable person in the room.
I think my overwhelming comfort may be the most shocking part for people. It's not such a surprise to my friends anymore, after so many years and so many costumes, but I will still find the occasional stranger at a party. And I can see it in their eyes, their face, their body language. They cannot stand what I'm wearing, and they really can't handle how casually I'm wearing it. Because even on Halloween, there's a limit to how accepting a woman ought to be of her own body.
This is why in high school I opted to play a vampire prostitute in front of the entire auditorium. This is why in college I would change my shirt wherever my shirt happened to be. This is why I have spent so many months of my life in front of a sewing machine. This is why I own moldable plastic pellets and a grommet maker and fabric button covers. Yes, I enjoy making costumes immensely. But if that were all it were about, I wouldn't have to try so hard to find the most absurd outfits on earth. I do it because it is still the majority mindset that I should spend my life ashamed yet beautiful, except for the sanctioned times when I am required to be on display and ridiculous.
The famous burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee once said of her nude performances: "I wasn't naked, I was completely covered by a blue spotlight." That's how I feel when I'm in costume. I'm not naked – I'm wrapped head to toe in everyone else's insecurities. I've made 10 Halloween costumes but I'm always wearing the same thing: a mirror.
I imagine there are some readers who have been able to get this far into my story and still believe that my Halloween costumes are vulgar and vain. That I shouldn't be talking about something like this in such a public forum. That being sexual in one aspect of my life makes me incapable of being smart, reasonable, caring, and warm in other parts. That I'm really doing it all for male attention. If that's you, then I imagine every photo in this article has made you cringe in your chair. That's a good thing. You may need to feel offended and off-put a few more times before you let go of the idea that women belong to anyone but themselves, that other people get to dictate the entrance fee I place on my own skin. But don't worry. I'm here to help. And I will be here – half-naked and making you feel uncomfortable – until you change your mind.


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Recessed Edge 12 x 8 x 2 3/4 Bodoni Font
Take your curb appeal to the next level with our beautiful address blocks. Create a Pinterest worthy spot on your house that visitors can see from the street. At addressblocks.com we want to create a lasting stone that's apart of your house for a lifetime.
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text:
30150-298 Turquoise
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