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Making Presentations
In business, the first 30 seconds of a presentation determines whether or not an audience is going to listen. Proper preparation is the first step to winning an audience. Making a positive first impression and dressing for the part is second step. Be consistent with the introduction and conclusion, focusing on objectives, advantages, benefits and action steps. Keep the presentation short, to the point and simple. Avoid clichés, complex jargon and abbreviations that could confuse audience members. Tell the truth and be direct. The ability to deliver a presentation can make or break a career, so be prepared.
An effective presentation ends with a call to action; what should the audience do? Tell the audience what the message is and how it can benefit them. Understanding the barriers you'll need to overcome to reach the audience members separates the amateurs from the professionals. Next, sell the core message to the audience and persuade them to take action. Research the audience beforehand in informal one-on-ones or in mini-presentations; what are the backgrounds, education levels and preferences? Connect using interests, expectations and goals. When an audience understands how a presentation will affect or benefit them, the members are more apt to listen.
Giving a presentation is a performance, as well as an information session. Plant both feet on the floor and avoid pacing. Give direct, approachable eye contact. Avoid looking from one side of the room to the other; instead, have a mini-conversation with one person for about five seconds and then move to the next person. Find one or two audience members who are listening and taking notes. Use those members as anchors to return to when others are distracted. During a question-and-answer session, be prepared for hostile questions.
Hostile questions are the hardest part of a presentation, and should be handled with caution and tact. When asked a hostile or inappropriate question, often from a competitor or someone with a chip on their shoulder, repeat and rephrase the question including the emotion associated with it. Then, either answer it using factual information (not emotion), or offer to meet with that person one-on-one at the end of the presentation. Most audiences do not want to sit through an argument or heated discussion, and should appreciate the diversion.
Most presentations include multimedia aids, such as a PowerPoint presentation. Take backups on Zip disks or CD-ROM, extension cords and extra connection cables. When using a Web site, store it on the hard drive instead of using a direct line to the Internet, which could be unavailable or slow. Presentation rooms might lack all necessary equipment or live connections, so plan ahead. Be sure to test everything before the presentation and allow enough time to troubleshoot any problems. Prepare, review and practice a presentation several times before giving it. Be open to scrapping a presentation that is not on target or reaching the audience, or soliciting feedback to make improvements.


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Mail of the Month - December
Still the #1! best performing keyboard app!! Very responsive and realistic VL Tone voices. Great work.
Heh! My girlfriend hated when I would ask to borrow her VL. I spent more hours with it than I did makin' out with her. Shows where my priorities were. This app takes me back, but now I gotta hit eBay to find my own.
Nostalgia Thanks for this. An uncle of mine had one in the early 80's. This retro-app works good! Gonna use it in my home studio, no lagging, plays like the real deal. Sounds true to the original. Highly recommended!
Once again i have to thank you for this app.It is really usable. I listen a lot of internetradio (Fail's audio workshop @ Shoutcast) and when some cute little instrumental comes by I take your app and try to figure out some melody. Since the VL1 is a one-note pony (no chords) you HAVE TO figure out a melody.. Not an easy task but when you do.. It takes you to a Kraftwerk state of mind of total music bliss! I want to thank you for that.

subset: commoncrawl


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Setting up UPS link with an ubuntu server
I've bought a new server (build from parts) to replace the old one that has capacitor leak issues and died †
And with it, I bought a new UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to replace the old one that non longer work either...
I've googled internet to setup this UPS with my linux server (ubuntu server 188.8.131.52) and here is the result of my search and work :
When the UPS detect a power outage, it wait some times
(configured depending on the capacity of the UPS and the
power consumption of the server), and then send a mail
with the UPS state just before the shutdown,
and then shutdown the server.
While waiting some time, if the power is back,
the shutdown is cancelled.
The UPS state is useful as it shows you the health of your UPS when it goes on battery.
- If the charge is really low when the server is shutdown, you might want to reduce the time it wait on battery before shutting down the server or replace the battery (or the UPS).
- If the charge is really close to 100, you might want to increase the time on battery.
Script to send mail are located in my home account /home/thomas.
My UPS is a MGE Ellipse 750VA connected trough USB.
(a serial cable is also available)
NUT install & configure
NUT is the piece of software that will communicate with the UPS, and shut your server down properly.
I've read that MGE is involved in NUT development, which is worth to be mentioned as it's not so often a company do that.
NUT documentation is for nuts ;) (easy joke) Well not that easy to get into.
Instead I've read the following french tutorial written by Olivier Van Hoof and this one also helped : http://wiki.monserveurperso.com/wakka.php?wiki=NutInstall (still in French)
In all configuration files/script excerpt, I'll use some colours to show the link between configuration files. So if you want to change one value to match your config, change all string with the same colour.
Let's install NUT
a piece of cake :
sudo apt-get install nut
Edit configuration files
Note you can download a copy of my configuration files here : http://mansonthomas.com/blogger/download/nut.tar.bz2
Configuration files are in /etc/nut
No configuration files are created by default. If you want example, you can find some in /usr/share/doc/nut/examples/
First we need to tell the system to start nut's daemon when the system starts :
sudo vi /etc/default/nut
change the first two 'no' to 'yes' to do so.
# start upsd
# start upsmon
Now lets declare our UPS :
sudo vi /etc/nut/ups.conf
[MGE-Ellipse750]Within the bracket, you can set your UPS name (no space allowed).
driver = usbhid-ups
port = auto
desc = "MGE UPS Systems UPS"
The most important thing is to find your driver that handle your UPS.
You can find it here : http://eu1.networkupstools.org/compat/stable.html
(beware, this is for the last stable version of NUT which might not be the version installed on your server)
For an USB connection, the port is 'auto'.
If you use a serial cable instead, you should do this :
chmod 0600 /dev/ttyS0
chown nut:nut /dev/ttyS0
and put /dev/ttyS0 instead of auto.
sudo vi /etc/nut/upsd.conf
ACL all 0.0.0.0/0
ACL localhost 127.0.0.1/32
ACCEPT localhost
REJECT all
This file defines who is able to connect. In my case, only localhost.
I guess this files is involved when you have several computer connected to one big UPS.
sudo vi /etc/nut/upsd.users
[thomas]This file defines a user 'thomas' with a password 'test' allowed to connect on localhost, and is allowed to control the UPS (upsmon master)
password = test
allowfrom = localhost
upsmon master
sudo vi /etc/nut/upsmon.conf
# define the ups to monitor and the permissions
MONITOR MGE-Ellipse750@localhost 1 thomas test master
# define the shutdown comand
SHUTDOWNCMD "/sbin/shutdown -h now"
# launch the upssched program to execute script with delay
NOTIFYCMD /sbin/upssched
This files basically tells NUT what to do on power outage.
The first instruction defines on which UPS is monitored, on which machine, the user/password used to connect, and the type : this is the master server.
All the line is defined from the previous configuration files we created, so if you change them, change this line too.
The SHUTDOWNCMD is what will be executed to shutdown the server.
NOTIFYCMD is called when the power status change (OB : on battery, OL : on line).
Here we call /sbin/upssched which will allow to say : Ok, if in X seconds power is not back, we do something
Events that trigger the NOTIFYCMD is the two last line (ONBATT and ONLINE)
sudo vi /etc/nut/upssched.conf
# the script to be executed
CMDSCRIPT /home/thomas/scripts/alertAndShutdown.php
# mandatory fields that must be set before AT commands
PIPEFN /var/run/nut/upssched.pipe
LOCKFN /var/run/nut/upssched.lock
# the timers, here 30 sec after the ONBATT (ups on battery) event
AT ONBATT * START-TIMER onbatt 30
# cancel the countdown is power is back
AT ONLINE * CANCEL-TIMER onbatt
In this file, we define, the script called upon the end of timer. (we'll see later this script)
Define 2 technical resources.
The two last line define the behaviour of NUT considering the events, which give in plain english :
On ONBATT event, start a time called onbatt for 30 secs, when those 30 secs are ellapsed the CMDSCRIPT will be called, unless a ONLINE event is recieved.
Now that we've defined our configuration files, we need to secure them :
sudo chown root:nut /etc/nut/*
sudo chmod 640 /etc/nut/*
At first I create a dedicated directory in /var/run named upsshed, but upon server restart, the directory is deleted... so instead I used the existing /var/run/nut directory.
If the directory is not there you get this error :
Oct 8 19:29:27 home upssched[5324]: Failed to connect to parent and failed to create parent: No such file or directory
Restart the NUT daemon
I recommend you to open to console, the first doing this :
sudo tail -f /var/log/daemon.log
that will display what is appended to the daemon.log file.
It's usefull to understand what's going wrong.
Then restart :
sudo service nut stop; sudo service nut start
which gave for me :
the stop :
Oct 8 21:13:48 home upsd[5171]: Signal 15: exiting
Oct 8 21:13:48 home upsmon[5174]: Signal 15: exiting
Oct 8 21:13:48 home upsmon[5173]: upsmon parent: read
Oct 8 21:13:48 home usbhid-ups[5169]: Signal 15: exiting
the start :
Oct 8 21:14:26 home usbhid-ups[5498]: Startup successful
Oct 8 21:14:26 home upsd[5499]: listening on 0.0.0.0 port 3493
Oct 8 21:14:26 home upsd[5499]: Connected to UPS [MGE-Ellipse750]: usbhid-ups-MGE-Ellipse750
Oct 8 21:14:26 home upsd[5500]: Startup successful
Oct 8 21:14:26 home upsmon[5502]: Startup successful
Oct 8 21:14:26 home upsd[5500]: Connection from 127.0.0.1
Oct 8 21:14:26 home upsd[5500]: Client email@example.com logged into UPS [MGE-Ellipse750]
As I was doing many other thing while I was setting up my UPS, the following may not be exact :
But I had stop/start several time to see thing change upon my tries. (but as I say, maybe I simply just forgot to save the configuration files (many time))
Test the connection with the UPS
Now that NUT is started successfully, we can test that the UPS is here :
thomas@home:/etc/nut$ upsc MGE-Ellipse750@localhost
battery.charge: 100
battery.charge.low: 30
battery.runtime: 2818
battery.type: PbAc
driver.name: usbhid-ups
driver.parameter.pollfreq: 30
driver.parameter.pollinterval: 2
driver.parameter.port: auto
driver.version: 2.2.1-
driver.version.data: MGE HID 1.01
driver.version.internal: 0.32
input.transfer.high: 264
input.transfer.low: 184
outlet.0.desc: Main Outlet
outlet.0.id: 1
outlet.0.switchable: no
outlet.1.desc: PowerShare Outlet 1
outlet.1.id: 2
outlet.1.status: on
outlet.1.switchable: no
outlet.2.desc: PowerShare Outlet 2
output.frequency.nominal: 50
output.voltage: 230.0
output.voltage.nominal: 230
ups.beeper.status: enabled
ups.delay.shutdown: -1
ups.delay.start: -10
ups.load: 0
ups.mfr: MGE OPS SYSTEMS
ups.model: Ellipse 750
ups.power.nominal: 750
ups.productid: ffff
ups.serial: BDCJ2303A
ups.status: OL CHRG
ups.vendorid: 0463
if you want to test the SHUTDOWNCMD instruction, to trigger the event that run shutdown command :
(beware, this will shut down your server if the SHUTDOWNCMD is properly setted)
/sbin/upsmon -c fsd
This should stop the computer.
Now, about the /home/thomas/scripts/alertAndShutdown.php script.
You can find here the set of script used :
Download the file, have a look in it to see there nothing bad there (you should always check ;)
tar jxf UPS-scripts.tar.bz2
This would create a scripts dir in your home directory.
First : I use php as my linux script engine because it's simple but yet powerful, and I know this language very well and it's already installed for other need on my linux box.
To get it :
sudo apt-get install php5 php5-cli
Before we proceed we need to add a group.
As I run several scripts with several user (root/thomas/nut etc...), in which there is some private data such as password (linux account/MySQL etc...) we need to do something so that all user that run these scripts can read these files, and only them.
To do so, we'll create a group, and add all those user to this group, and change the file permission so that the file belong to this group.
The script would be in a better place in /usr/local or something but I personally prefer to have them in my home directory on my small personal server. (well maybe I'll move them into /usr/local and create a link to it, it would be far more clean ;)
groupadd scriptExecutor
chmod 770 /home/thomas
sudo chown thomas:scriptExecutor /home/thomas
sudo chown -R thomas:scriptExecutor /home/thomas/scripts
sudo chmod 640 /home/thomas/scripts/config/config.php
sudo chmod 770 /home/thomas/scripts/alertAndShutdown.php
sudo chmod 640 /home/thomas/scripts/mail.php
sudo chmod 640 /home/thomas/scripts/lib/*
#thomas is a sudoers so you need to add admin otherwise you won't be able to sudo again.
sudo usermod -G scriptExecutor,admin thomas
sudo usermod -G scriptExecutor root
sudo usermod -G scriptExecutor nut
Note : if something is wrong in the script permission (from the / to the script, check permission and ownership on each directory) then you'll get this kind of warning :
Oct 8 01:12:48 home upssched[5355]: exec_cmd(/home/thomas/scripts/alertAndShutdown.php onbatt) returned 126
I use phpMailer to send mail :
my mail function is based on the gmail example within the phpMail archive.
What's worth to be notice in these scripts :
- the leading #!/usr/bin/php in alertAndShutdown.php along with chmod 770 allow you to execute the php interpreter and run this script at one time instead of doing #php alertAndShutdown.php
- Ok the core of the script : build an html message with the output of the command upsc
- Write to /var/log/ups.log the fact that a shutdown has been processed by NUT (you can find this information in /var/log/daemon.log, but it contains other logs soo...)
- And the last command which is utterly needed otherwise your server won't stop : "/sbin/upsmon -c fsd" which will tel NUT to run the shutdown cmd.
Test carefully your configuration
To test the script, you have no choice but unplug your UPS (between UPS and your house power outlet. (not between the server and the UPS as I did the first time (lack of sleep is terrible))While you do so, use a console with the "tail -f /var/log/daemon.log" running in it.
Make the following test :
- Unplug the UPS, wait to see in logs that this as been seen by NUT, replug the UPS, and see that the timer is canceled, your server shouldn't stop.
- Unplug the UPS, wait more than 30 seconds (the time we set in upsshed.conf), see that you recieved a mail and that our computer shut down.
- Check that your UPS is fully charged, (battery.charge). Comment the last line of the alertAndShutdown.php script, unplug the UPS, and see how much time your server need to suck all the power of your UPS. Then take 80% of that time, et set it in upsshed.conf in seconds
- Uncomment the last line of alertAndShutdown.php, re run test 3.
For me it gave :
First test :
Broadcast Message from email@example.com
(somewhere) at 22:57 ...
UPS MGE-Ellipse750@localhost on battery
Oct 8 22:57:37 home upsmon[6221]: UPS MGE-Ellipse750@localhost on battery
Oct 8 22:57:37 home upssched[6302]: Timer daemon started
Oct 8 22:57:38 home upssched[6302]: New timer: onbatt (30 seconds)
Broadcast Message from firstname.lastname@example.com
(somewhere) at 22:57 ...
UPS MGE-Ellipse750@localhost on line power
Oct 8 22:57:57 home upsmon[6221]: UPS MGE-Ellipse750@localhost on line power
Oct 8 22:57:57 home upssched[6302]: Cancelling timer: onbatt
Second test :
Broadcast Message from firstname.lastname@example.com
(somewhere) at 23:01 ...
UPS MGE-Ellipse750@localhost on battery
Oct 8 23:01:57 home upsmon[6221]: UPS MGE-Ellipse750@localhost on battery
Oct 8 23:01:57 home upssched[6315]: Timer daemon started
Oct 8 23:01:58 home upssched[6315]: New timer: onbatt (30 seconds)
Oct 8 23:02:28 home upssched[6315]: Event: onbatt
Oct 8 23:02:29 home upsd[6218]: Connection from 127.0.0.1
Oct 8 23:02:29 home upsd[6218]: Client on 127.0.0.1 logged out
Broadcast Message from email@example.com
(somewhere) at 23:02 ...
Executing automatic power-fail shutdown
Broadcast Message from email@example.com
(somewhere) at 23:02 ...
Auto logout and shutdown proceeding
Oct 8 23:02:31 home upsmon[6221]: Signal 10: User requested FSD
Oct 8 23:02:31 home upsd[6218]: Client email@example.com set FSD on UPS [MGE-Ellipse750]
Oct 8 23:02:31 home upsmon[6221]: Executing automatic power-fail shutdown
Oct 8 23:02:31 home upsmon[6221]: Auto logout and shutdown proceeding
Broadcast message from firstname.lastname@example.com
(unknown) at 23:02 ...
The system is going down for halt NOW!
Oct 8 23:02:36 home init: tty4 main process (4928) killed by TERM signal
Oct 8 23:02:36 home init: tty5 main process (4929) killed by TERM signal
Oct 8 23:02:36 home init: tty2 main process (4931) killed by TERM signal
Oct 8 23:02:36 home init: tty3 main process (4934) killed by TERM signal
Oct 8 23:02:36 home init: tty6 main process (4935) killed by TERM signal
Oct 8 23:02:36 home init: tty1 main process (5240) killed by TERM signal
and the mail :
Third test :
My UPS with my server last 14 minutes with an initial battery state at 92% of full charge before reaching the 30% low limit (on which NUT execute the SHUTDOWNCMD anyway).
(so about 15 minutes with full charge)
My server parts are designed to be low power consumer, so the result is not that nice.
Details about server parts can be found here if you're interested : http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pw1pftHbgb8QakIjz1z_7Ew
I'll do some tweak, like processor speed change (if possible) and stop the harddrive if not used and mount /var/log on an USB key (so that the hard drives can stop)
Final thought
- recheck your UPS from time to time, like every 6 months. UPS lifetime can be bad.
- Of course, all above information is to be used at your own risk and may certainly be improved in many way. If you do so, share ;)


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A fragment from the Awareness book - by Anthony de Mello
Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. You know, all mystics—Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter what their religion—are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. They are having a nightmare.Last year on Spanish television I heard a story about this gentleman who knocks on his son's door. "Jaime," he says, "wake up!" Jaime answers, "I don't want to get up, Papa." The father shouts, "Get up, you have to go to school." Jaime says, "I don't want to go to school." "Why not?" asks the father. "Three reasons," says Jaime. "First, because it's so dull; second, the kids tease me; and third, I hate school." And the father says, "Well, I am going to give you three reasons why you must go to school. First, because it is your duty; second, because you are forty-five years old, and third, because you are the headmaster." Wake up, wake up! You've grown up. You're too big to be asleep. Wake up! Stop playing with your toys.
Most people tell you they want to get out of kindergarten, but don't believe them. Don't believe them! All they want you to do is to mend their broken toys. "Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success." This is what they want; they want their toys replaced. That's all. Even the best psychologist will tell you that, that people don't really want to be cured. What they want is relief; a cure is painful.
Waking up is unpleasant, you know. You are nice and comfortable in bed. It's irritating to be woken up. That's the reason the wise guru will not attempt to wake people up. I hope I'm going to be wise here and make no attempt whatsoever to wake you up if you are asleep. It is really none of my business, even though I say to you at times, "Wake up!" My business is to do my thing, to dance my dance. If you profit from it, fine; if you don't, too bad! As the Arabs say, "The nature of rain is the same, but it makes thorns grow in the marshes and flowers in the gardens."


text:
This listing is for 1 handmade ceramic mug*
Approximately 14-16oz
It is my passion to create unique, functional, and simplistic ceramics to be used in life's everyday moments. Everything is wheel thrown or hand built using various stoneware clays. The process of making each pot is done right out of my home studio in Lumby BC, Canada. Each block of clay has to be cut, weighed, measured, and all the air wedged out. From there I mold and shape the clay on the wheel - centering, pushing, pulling, smoothing, and trimming. Each piece is then slowly fired twice in my electric kilns. The first firing changes the clay into stone, making each piece ready to sand, bathe, and glaze. The second firing is where the final transformation occurs, and out comes the most beautiful colours on each piece. Unless otherwise noted, each piece is food, dishwasher and microwave safe. Hand washing is recommended for longevity.


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When Anna Roberts was nine years old, she went to the racetrack in New Orleans and was amazed to see Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone leaping into the saddle. It was the first time Anna realized that women could be jockeys too. Ten years later, Anna is a student at the North American Racing Academy in Lexington, KY.
The North American Racing Academy was launched by famous jockey Chris McCarron. Chris won the Kentucky Derby twice: on Alysheba in 1987 and Go for Gin in 1994. Chris wanted to create a college where aspiring jockeys could learn not only race riding, but the care and management of racehorses as well. And he wanted his pupils to earn college degrees, too. The academy is affiliated with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and the jockeys will graduate in two years with an associate degree in Applied Science in Equine Studies.
Anna's mother heard about the Academy and she suggested that Anna take a look at it.
"When I was younger, I took lessons at a hunter/jumper barn. And I read Young Rider!" says Anna.
The opportunity to learn how to be a jockey and to get a college degree at the same time appealed to Anna so she applied to the program.
Applicants to the jockey academy have to be at least 18 years old and they must have a high-school diploma or a GED. They've also got to weigh no more than 114 pounds and be no taller than 5'6".
Anna was accepted to the first class of the academy, along with 11 other students: four women and seven men. But not all of the future jockeys were experienced riders like Anna. In fact, a few of them, like Jason Truett, had never even been on a horse. This didn't bother Chris McCarron. Applicants to the jockey academy didn't have to know how to ride. Chris planned to teach them!
The students began taking riding lessons on the Kentucky Horse Park's group of Mustangs, but soon moved on to riding Thoroughbreds. Some of the students hit the ground more than once, but no one gave up.
Young Rider spent a morning with Anna at the Academy. The students have to be up early because they have to be at the Kentucky Horse Park by 7.30 a.m. for the classroom section of their course. They spend two hours sitting behind desks learning about horse management, equine science and physiology. They also learn about eating healthily so they can stay strong and fit.
"I really enjoyed learning about horse reproduction," says Anna. "We went to horse farms and saw mares giving birth."
After their class work is finished, the students pile into cars and drive to the Thoroughbred Training Center a few miles away from the Horse Park where they meet up with their instructor, Chris. Each student is assigned two Thoroughbreds at the Training Center to care for. Most of the mounts are ex-racehorses that have been donated to the academy.
Anna takes care of Tux and Polo. From 9.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. Anna mucks out their stalls, grooms them and tacks them up. The students don't always ride the horses they look after though. Each morning, Chris writes down on a chalkboard which horse they are assigned to ride.
"Polo is pretty easy going. I like to ride him," says Anna. "Tux can be tough sometimes."
Then the students slip into their body protector vests and put on their helmets. It's time to ride! They hop onto their horses and begin warming them up by walking them around the shed row for about 30 minutes. When Chris hops into the saddle, the jockeys know that it's time to head out to the track.
Chris wears a headset with a microphone and all of the jockeys wear earpieces so Chris can communicate with them while they're galloping their horses. "It's so Chris can tell us what we're doing while we're riding," explains Anna. "Sometimes he'll tell us that we're going too slowly and that we need to speed up."
At the beginning of the program, the jockeys galloped around the track in pairs. But as they grew more experienced they rode in bigger groups.
Anna loves the time spent on the track. "Galloping the horses is exhilarating!" she says, but she can get nervous sometimes. "I might have a nervous day, but you just have to kick it out of your system if you want to be successful in this business."
The students ride two horses a day. Occasionally they take the horses out in a big, grassy field so they can feel what it's like to ride on a turf track. They also practice galloping out of the starting gate.
When they're done riding, the students groom their horses again, clean tack and pick out the stalls for a second time. Then they have their lunch break.
At 2.30 p.m. the group meets at the training center again. It's time to improve their fitness levels on the Equicizer, a machine that simulates riding a horse. It's neck bobs and its barrel moves up and down so it feels like you're riding a horse.
The students take turn riding the Equicizers.
"When I first started riding the Equicizer, I could only stay in the jockey's position for about one minute," says Anna. "It's so hard. You have to have stamina to stay in the correct position. Now I can stay up for three minutes.
"When I rode hunters and jumpers, I could ride with my knees bent. In the jockey position your legs are straight. It took a while to get the hang of that. You just have to practice. Doing leg stretches helps."
Now in their second year at the academy, the students are expected to walk around the training center and "rustle" up rides. This means that they ask trainers if they can exercise their racehorses. The students need to spend as much time as possible in the saddle because they will soon be heading out to spend a semester being interns in the racing industry. One student is going to exercise horses for Todd Pletcher, a top racehorse trainer. Another will stay at the training center and work as a freelance rider. Anna's heading back to her hometown of New Orleans to ride for a trainer there.
Chris hopes that one day, he'll see his students riding in races and his dream is to see one riding in the Kentucky Derby!
It won't be long before the first class graduates from the North American Racing Academy. If you're interested in learning more about the jockey school, visit this website: www.nara.kctcs.edu.


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I made these sweet, moist sour cream and apple muffins for my dear father-in-law and husband and received rave reviews … I think a streusel topping makes any baked good an extra treat. A little more complicated than your usual quick bread, but well worth the effort. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or dessert and not too sweet either. This savory girl does not enjoy an overload of sugar, but I do like a decent sized muffin. Moist, sublime and comforting as we await winter here in Canada. Brrr. Turn on the oven and keep warm. Much better to occupy your kitchen than your local park.
Tart Apple Muffins with Sour Cream | |||
Recipe by Lisa Turner Adapted from The Best Quick Breads Published on November 6, 2011 Sweet delicious sour cream and apple muffins with a wonderful streusel topping (who doesn't like that?)
Streusel topping:
On the top of the reading stack: cookbooks
Audio Accompaniment: Hope Sandoval


text:
Cyber Summer Camp
More state-level camps and competitions are necessary to inspire the interest that is necessary for a capable cybersecurity workforce.
Last week marked the kick-off of a series of summer camps designed to inspire the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. This first camp not only attracted young, inexperienced cyber experts; it also drew experienced professionals interested in boosting their craft.
"The camp is geared towards aspiring high school and college students," said George Schu, a senior vice president with Booz Allen Hamilton, speaking to Wired Workplace about the first of four U.S. Cyber Challenge summer camps, which are run in partnership with Virginia Tech and Booz Allen Hamilton. "Interestingly, it also attracted people out in the workforce who already had considerable skills and were interested in sharpening their skills."
The camp last week, held in Arlington, Va., also included a roundtable of industry experts and camp participants to examine the critical shortage of cyber professionals, in part to inform a follow-up to a report released last fall by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the cyber workforce shortage.
"The roundtable gave some perspective on the ever-growing need for people with cybersecurity skills and related certifications," Schu said. "I tried to paint a picture for campers that this is definitely a growing field and that skills in these fields will help people gain very attractive employment. It is universally recognized that we need more and more people who understand the nature of this challenge."
Another hot topic of the roundtable was the status and potential implications of the 2012 Cybersecurity Act, which the Senate unveiled to much fanfare in February, Schu said. The bill, which in part would require the government to develop a comprehensive cyber workforce strategy and develop new classifications for federal cybersecurity jobs, is still waiting action by the Senate.
Meanwhile, the Cyber Challenge camp that closed Friday with an awards ceremony, was a success, with many campers noting the level and quality of instruction received, Schu said. "A lot of these people are hackers at heart, and we like to think of them as ethical hackers," he said. "They liked the competition and being able to outdo or stump their instructor or fellow students is what drives a lot of these people. They're not just sitting in a classroom passively listening to what a lecturer is telling them."
Still, there is much work to do on cultivating and grooming the next generation of cybersecurity leaders, including boosting the reach of the Cyber Challenge program, Schu said. "A lot of interest, sponsorship and programs focused on cybersecurity tend to be generated in Washington," he said. "This has to be something where we spread this kind of learning and interest across the nation."
Schu said more state-level sponsorships of Cyber Challenge camps and competitions is necessary to inspire the level of interest that is necessary to have a capable cybersecurity workforce going forward and achieve the Cyber Challenge's goal of having 10,000 participants.
"I think continued funding and focus on this issue by the government is very necessary," he said. "If we're not attacked, people can forget how vulnerable we are. We're not going to solve this problem overnight; it's going to take a while."
NEXT STORY: Watchdog points to FOIA.gov improvements


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Legally Raising Money for Others
If you are receiving a fee for assisting someone else's company in raising money, then you must operate within the confines of securities laws. These laws provide three different ways in which one may legally raise money for another company for a fee. You can't get a "commission" or "bonus" or anything of value for bringing an investor to another company or person unless you fit into one of these three categories:
Broker Dealer License
First, if you are licensed and are registered with an SEC registered broker dealer, you may receive commissions and other forms of compensation for raising money in public or private offerings (e.g. private placements). The newest form of registration from FINRA is designed to license and regulate those who operate as "investment bankers," called a "Series 79 license." This license allows a holder to collect commissions and other fees for raising funds for an offering of equity (e.g. stock) or debt (e.g. notes or bonds). In addition to passing the licensing test, you'll need to associate with a broker dealer.
Finder's Fee
Second, if you take a limited role in the raising of funds and are paid a flat or hourly fee, as opposed to commissions based on funds raised, you may be able to be paid a finder's fee for introducing investors to others. A finder's fee can only be paid to a finder so long as:
- The finder isn't involved in negotiations of the securities being sold.
- The finder doesn't discuss the details of the securities.
- The finder isn't paid based on money raised (e.g. no commission).
- The finder doesn't perform "finding" services on a regular basis.
In sum, a finder's fee may be paid but only to someone who makes introductions of potential investors, and the fee amount must be based on some factor other than compensation relating the persons or amount of securities sold to those introduced by the finder.
Director or Officer of Offering Company
Third, you may be able to assist in raising funds for another if you are an Officer or Director of the company whom you are raising money for. The SEC promulgated Rule 3a4-1 which is a Safe Harbor from enforcement and allows someone who serves as a paid Director or Officer to assist in selling the company's securities. There are many ways to qualify under this Rule but the most common is to meet the following criteria:
- Be paid as a Director or Officer by salary or other criteria that is not linked to sales of securities made (e.g. be the CFO or Treasurer and offer financial consulting advice in addition to working with potential investors).
- Can't be associated with a Broker Dealer and cannot have a prior SEC disciplinary history.
- Should stay on with the company following closing of the offering so as to show your purpose as a Director or Officer was not just for raising funds.
- Takes a passive and restrictive role in selling the securities and refers to the CEO or President for details and negotiations.
Failure to comply with the securities laws can result in civil and criminal action. In addition, investors who can claim a failure to comply with the laws outlined above are able to rescind their investment and can subject the company's founders and the person soliciting the investment with personal liability for any losses.


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Zig-Zag Servo Feed Headed to InSInkErator
June 1, 2012CommentsThe press shop at the Racine, WI, manufacturing facility of InSinkErator has added a zig-zag press-feeding system supplied by CWP and Formtek Maine, Clinton, ME. The servo-feed system, rated for stock 18 in. wide by 0.030 in. thick, features a stock reel, straightener and threading tables. A variable-tension brake automatically adjusts brake tension as the coil depletes. Matte-chrome pinch rolls and smooth-chrome straightening rolls on the stock straightener will help to shed particles and process critical-finish material used to manufacture parts for the firm's waste-disposal units. Zig-zag feeds, when used for stamping circular blanks, can result in a 22-percent scrap reduction compared to conventional feeds, say CWP officials.
See also: Formtek-ME, Formtek, Inc.
Technologies: Coil and Sheet Handling


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Flooring Installation in Naperville
New flooring can work wonders to benefit your home or business space. From enhanced aesthetic appeal to increased functionality, choosing and installing the perfect floor will grow the overall value of your property.
NRB Construction Inc has been providing unparalleled floor installation throughout Naperville for years. If you need fast and reliable flooring installation, our Naperville general contractors have you covered.
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We Can Help You Choose the Right Flooring
Sweeping entrances and terrazzo are a glamorous match, while a kitchen needs practicality. Gyms where clients might drop weights and homes where children nap may need flooring that stifles sound. Is waterproofing wise? We have slip-resistant options for areas that need to be waterproof.
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Many material options are available for both home and commercial spaces. Our flooring installation team can seamlessly install the following:
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We can service the following businesses:
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Our team can provide flooring to spaces throughout your home, including hallways and staircases. Whether you are looking to pour a concrete basement foundation or tile your powder room, we will treat your residence with the utmost care.
We'll leave your home with floors that steal the show and reflect your one-of-a-kind style. New flooring will also increase the market value of your home when the time comes to sell.
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Our courteous, reliable, and expert flooring installation contractors create floors that make the right impression and are built to last for years.
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Alvarado Marine's service personnel has numerous years of marine and power equipment experience and can handle anything from routine maintenance to major repairs. Our goal is to make sure that your Honda products are up to their highest working capabilities when you need them. Whether you need a tune up, storage prep, or repair, Alvarado Marine will make sure your Honda is in top shape! We also stock a wide variety of Genuine Honda Parts and Accessories. Let us know what you need!
End of Year Service/Winterize
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Service Engine Oils, Filters, Thermostats
Service Gearcase Oil, Water Pump Impellers
Carb Cleaning
Minor Repairs
Major Repairs
Sale & Service
Parts & Accessories
Install Electronics
Customize your fishing needs; Aux Motor/Remote Steering, Downriggers, Pot Pullers, Dept Sounder/Fish Finder, GPS, Pumps


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Victoria Brodsky isn't taking the theft of her Samsung Galaxy S3 last summer laying down. But her suspected phone thieves are doing plenty of lying down, naked-style: Brodsky claims the people who stole her phone have uploaded homemade pornography to her Dropbox account. And she intends to track them down.
Brodsky, who lives in Brooklyn, had her phone and wallet pick-pocketed at a street fair last August. Shortly thereafter, she started seeing sex selfies appear in her Dropbox account, which is linked to her phone. She has discovered 26 explicit photos and one sex video, all of the same couple. "It's one thing to steal, but they're celebrating," she told the New York Daily News.
Brodsky has published the pictures in hopes she'll catch the couple; she said the police categorized her phone as "lost" because she didn't see anyone steal it, so she's not relying on the NYPD's assistance.
Considering these people were too dense to un-link the Dropbox once they started using the phone, they may not be digitally savvy enough to find out that they're gaining Internet notoriety. And, of course, there's no saying for certain that these people are Brodsky's thieves: they may have simply purchased a stolen phone, perhaps without realizing. There is a booming market for re-selling stolen phones, and some people don't realize they are purchasing stolen goods. So Brodksy's accidental porn stars may not be thieves, just people with really poor judgment about the origins of their purchases.
This seems like a good place to point out that you should always make sure to check the settings on pre-owned products you've purchased, even if you're certain they come from a legitimate source.


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Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said Corona took India back to its original ethos
At an IIPA session with Sadhguru, the Minister said, ease of living for common man is the ultimate aim of Good Governance
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh today said that Corona has enabled us to go back to our original Indian ethos and practices like hand wash and Namaste have come into vogue with greater vigour. He said, Covid has awakened us all on the importance of healthcare as a national priority and also made the world aware of the virtues of social distancing hygiene, cleanliness, yoga, Ayurveda and traditional medicine, etc. Now they have come to trust this much more than earlier on and there is a renewed interest in yoga, Ayurveda etc. which have always been thrust areas for PM Narendra Modi. He was addressing a session with Sadhguru on "Inner Engineering-Technologies for Well Being" at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).
During the lockdown period particularly, Dr Jitendra Singh observed, many people resorted to Yoga not only to seek a betterment in their immunity status, but also to get over the pangs of loneliness and anxiety. He said, one of the fall-outs of the post-COVID era would be that even after the Corona virus is gone, those who have become habitual of Yoga during the lockdown period, will most likely continue to practise it for the rest of their lives, thus turning it into a lifetime blessing.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the ultimate aim of Good Governance is to bring ease of living for the common citizen and strongly supported Sadhguru for saying that happy and joyful administrators will spread happiness in every sphere of life.
Sadhguru in his address said that India had always been a land of seekers with no rigid belief system. It never had a culture of conquest, but it was always a land of enquiry and added that we must maintain this ethos for our Republic to thrive on.
Sadhgurusaid that Corona virus demands a conscious responsible behaviour and this teaching is all the more relevant for leaders and administrators for delivering greater good to common man.
Justice M.N. Bhandari of Allahabad High Court, Vice President of IIPA Shri Shekhar Dutt, Director, IIPA, Shri S.N.Tripathi, Surabhi Pandey, Amitabh Ranjan, Navaljit Kapoorand other senior officials and faculty of IIPA took part in the event.
(With inputs from PIB)


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MARTINSRs "Basics of Basics" Color choice
"Basics of Basics" Color choice Color choice is so much more than simply picking a color because you 'like" it. Not every color "works" on every car. Some will argue "to each his own" or "It's your car, paint it what ever you want". This is true, but you are painting it to look better, right? Why just get color on it for the sake of getting color on it. Why paint your favorite color on it when your favorite color is not going to make the car look it's best? We have all heard that black will show waves or poor body work. White on the other hand hides them. This is just the start of color choice. We can agree that even though you may love black cars, painting a wavy old beast a cut and buffed black would be wrong. It goes beyond "taste", it is just plain wrong, if your desire is a nice looking car. There are a few different issues when talking about color choice. Cost: IF you have a budget for you paint you best check on the cost before you commit to a color. In one brand of basecoat a price can go from approximately $185.00 to $420.00 a gallon. Any color with a lot of red or pearl is going to be more expensive for instance. These are not custom colors, just regular old colors off new cars. Whether you plan on BC/CC (base coat/ clear coat) or SS (single stage, where no clear is applied over it) will effect cost. Pick a color and go to your paint store to see all costs, color, clear, hardeners, reducers, any sealers you may want, etc. You don't want to be surprised when the car is sitting there ready for paint. Resale Value: Yeah, I know, you'll never sell it. Well, I have to tell you, you most likely will someday. There are lots of cars painted pastel pick from the 1980's that are darn near un-sellable today. I know of one, a friend of mine passed away unexpectedly and his wife almost had to give away his '34 Ford. It would have probably gotten up to $10,000 more if it wasn't a out dated trendy color from the 80's. Really watch those trendy colors, they can kill you. Does the color "work" on this particular body style: Not all cars look good in all colors. Again, I am not talking "taste" here, I mean some colors just DON'T "work" on every car. There is a 4dr '59 Cad in my area that is painted a fire engine red, I am sorry, it doesn't work. In fact, it looks like hell. Is that just my opinion, well yes and no. It is also the publics opinion in large too. GM spends a LOT of time and money on marketing and research to come up with the colors it offers. That red would not be a color offered on that car for good reason. This is a very gray area (if you will pardon the pun), it does come down to "opinion". But it is like speaking your mind about politics, sure you have the right, but you better "know the room". Or you will suffer the consequences. The resale of the Cad is in the tank. The likelihood of a crowd gathering around it at a show is in the tank. He too the chance when he opened the can. Because of this rule it is not likely you will ever see a pale yellow Lamborghini Countach or a candy apple red Rolls Royce. What do you want the color to do: This is where we return to the black show waves stuff. Sure black shows waves, but did you know it hides body lines? That's right, it "softens" body lines. If you have a car with features you want to hide, black is the color. This is one of the reasons it is known for being "mysterious". It hides a lot, leaving it up to the imagination. It also makes the car look smaller. I am not kidding, park a black '68 Camaro next to a white one and you darn near have to take a measuring tape out to prove they are the same car. On something like a '27 Ford model T the doors lay on top of the cowl and quarters. It kinda looks like a tire patch on the side of the car. In black they "melt" in and don't pop out as much. White is just the opposite, it may hide waves in flat panels, but it shows off body lines. This includes how STRAIGHT the lines are. Panel fit is very critical with white. The gaps look like black pin stripes, if they are not perfect it will look like wavy inconsistent width stripes. We all know what black and white do, any other color just falls in the middle. It is a sliding scale, the darker the color the more it's effects are like black and the lighter the color the more it's effects are like white, simple. Tip 1. There are thousands and thousands of colors out there. To pick one from that huge pallet would be very hard. This is what I feel is the best way to start the color search, find a car the color you want and get the color code off it. It is that simple, the new car deal lots are full of cars in every color imaginable, find the color and there you will find the exact code of that color. Tip 2. When you go to get your paint at the paint store ask if there are any "alternates" or "Variants" of the color you have chosen. These "alternates" can be VERY, VERY different from the "standard" color. The car you may have seen was one of these "alternate" colors. These alternate colors are different "batches" if you will. Tip 3. DO NOT PICK THE COLOR OUT OF A CHIP BOOK! These chips are usually not even paint, they are ink. They are a "close" representation of the color, they are NOT the color. (for instance the alternates will not even be represented in the chip books) . Tip 4. I highly recommend you buy a pint of the color you have chosen, take it home and spray it out. Use an old fender or something and really get a good feeling for the color before you layout your hard earned dough for a gallon or two. This is not only to see if the color is right, but to see if it covers well, and just how easy it will be to paint. The difference between colors and brands can be night and day in how user friendly they are. If you find that the color is nice but it takes 6 coats to cover, you may want to change the color choice or change the brand of paint. Some "value lines" can be very transparent, so you save no money because you may have to put on twice as much. A high pearl or metallic color may "model" easily, that may be a reason to scrap the color or brand. Tip 5. After you have your color picked for goodness sakes don't be a cheapie when buying your paint. Figure out how much you'll need for the whole job. We are talking every thing you plan on painting, outside, inside, dash, jambs, trunk, everything. When you have an idea how much, add at the very least 20% more. If one gallon is enough, buy another quart. Buy all the paint you will need before you start painting anything. Get a few extra gallon cans and use them to intermix ALL the paint. You then have all the paint you need, no mismatched parts, no running out, you are set to go. If you have a that quart left over when you are done, so what? Running out of paint is NOT pretty, it is a disaster in many cases. Now, why intermix? This is a VERY painful lesson you don't want to learn the hard way. This is it in a nutshell, if you were to go to the paint store and have three gallons of the same formula mixed you would end up with three different colors! I will bet you a dollar, here is why. Some toners are very strong, just a drip will change the color. A couple of different people could mix them, some people mix better than others. There are other variables such as one toner used gets emptied and the next toner used has more solvent in it because it is new and has less strength. Now, these colors may not be "that" different. If you were to paint three different cars with those gallons you may not even see it. But if you were to paint your hood, fenders, and quarters with the three different gallons you sure would! I repeat, this is a VERY painful lesson you don't want to have to learn the hard way, BUY ALL YOUR PAINT UP FRONT. Tip 6. If you follow tip #5 you can skip this one. It is something that comes up once and a while. When you have chosen BC/CC, SS, Lacquer, enamel, what ever, paint the WHOLE car the same. Don't paint the jambs SS and the outside BC/CC or something like that. Yes, it "can" work, but seldom does. The formula for the SS and BC of the same color is NOT (usually) the same. The SS paint is not just the BC that you don't put clear over. For that matter just clearing a color will change it. I could bore you with example after example of how I learned this information. Follow these simple tips and you will have fun doing your car, instead of experiencing the pain on your own. These are lessons that are very painful, believe me. Let me also say that I love color. It has been a big part of my life for over 25 years. I can appreciate just about any color as long as it is done nice. That does not mean that any color belongs on any car. It also doesn't mean that because I would like a car a particular color that I would paint it that color. It has to "work" or it was a waste of time and money. There are many cars that you have seen grace the front cover of a magazine that would be a big ZERO if it were painted another color. And likewise there are many cars that just don't get the attention they deserve because they were painted the "wrong" color. This may be the only car you ever restore, or at the very least one of only a few. The time you take to pick the color is time very well spent, that I guarantee you. |
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers DRL/ITEST 1312333 and DUE/ATE 1104310. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Copyright © 2012, MATE. All rights reserved.


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Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign."
Engineering College fees Rs. 48100.00 For the whole year. Hostel fees 48000.00 For the whole year. Those who get Scholarship, the college and hostel fees can be adjusted.Those who are in Tripura may contact the Director on 3oth May or 1st June.For further details contact Dr. Fr. Davis George 9425152081
Welcome to St Aloysius Institute of Technology. SAIT will continue the same tradition of providing holistic education in molding the future technocrats and leaders. Technology at the leading edge, changes so rapidly that you have to keep abreast with the fast changing technologies after you get out of school and for this probably the most important thing is having good fundamentals. Rooted in the fundamentals, we at SAIT shall certainly strive to give the required competitive edge to our future technocrats and leaders so that they may use technology to make tangible difference in how people live and work. Ignite the big dream in you. Discover your potentials and possibilities. Invest your time in innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Give technology the required human face. It has been said by Steve Jobs, "To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines. " We hope you would remain focused and make your Aloysian experience at SAIT, learning and growing exploration of the inner and outer world so as to make this world a better place to live in. Let us remember "In this new wave of technology, you can't do it all yourself, you have to form alliances" (Carlos Slim Helu). At St. Aloysius Institute of Technology we shall always strive to move forward from dependence to independence and further to interdependence, always widening the circle of influence so as to make your life a success which is not a destination but a journey. I wish each one of you a fruitful and productive journey at St. Aloysius Institute of Technology.
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My best wishes to all the juniors!!
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This site is made by the students of the University of Mumbai, where all the study material needed to prepare for the students who want to prepare for the various competitive exams like U.P.S.C, M.P.S.C, I.B.P.S, P.S, S.S.C, N.D.A, C.D.S, R.B.I, Railways, etc. is provided free of cost.


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General Questions
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Contact Us
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Clubhouse Rental Reservations
Welcome to the official website of the Stone Creek Homeowners Association. Stone Creek is an excellent community conveniently located in West Houston.
The Stone Creek Homeowners Association is a deed restricted community of almost 1000 single-family homes in northwest Harris County, located off FM-529 & Hwy-6 between US-290 & I-10 in the Cy-Fair Independent School District.
Please enjoy our website and feel free to contact us via email at
with any suggestions, inquiries, or news articles.
Administrative services are provided by
Sterling Association Services, Inc
Sterling Association Services, Inc.
6842 N. Sam Houston Parkway West
Houston, Texas 77064
Phone: 832-678-4500
Fax: 832-604-7093
Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sterling's Holidays Observed
January 1 - New Year's Day
April 10- Good Friday
May 25 - Memorial Day
July 4- Independence Day
September 7 - Labor Day
November 26 & 27 - Thanksgiving Day & following Friday
December 24 & 25 - Christmas Eve & Christmas Day
Persons of contact:
Juan Cruz
Melissa Fulp
Accounts Receivable:
We are always looking for new volunteers, make a difference, volunteer today!
Call or send us an email if you are interested in helping.
Call Sterling Association Services Inc. (832) 678-4500 for details.
The HOA assessments can be paid on line at no cost by e-check or by credit card with the bank convenience fee. You will need the information on your assessment statement to process the payment. There are now two easy ways to pay on-line. You can log onto
to check status of payment, respond to deed restriction violations and much more. Look for account number and password for login with your annual statement.
Stone Creek is now on
. Please visit the page for updates, photos and much more!
How to Use Your Website
Welcome to your community's access website information page. For your convenience; you can now go online to access your account and to provide you with any forms or other information that pertains to your community. At this point, you can access your account balance, your assessment amount, payment information, and your account contact information.
The website has two tool bars which have beneficial information for homeowners. One tool bar is related to your community association information and the other to your individual information. Below are some of the more commonly used features:
By clicking on the "Home" tab, located on the top tool bar, you will find your most commonly used resources such as your pool forms, bylaws and restrictions, helpful links, community event calendar, and other useful resources.
To see if your assessment payment has been posted or for a history of past payments look under the "Account Detail" tab which can be found on the second toolbar.
The "Account Link" tab allows you to link multiple properties that you may own under the same log in.
The "Architectural" and "Compliance" tabs provide you with a history of past letters and applications and allow you to respond directly to the support personnel associated with that function.
The "E-Payment" tab informs you how to pay your assessments on-line.
The "User Profile" tab allows you to update your contact information and subscribe to receive information online.
Log onto
for more information.
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Please be mindful of your pets and trash left at the curbside. Please use trash cans and ensure that pets are on a leash at all times.
HOA Meeting:
Date:The first Tuesday of every month.
Location: Stone Creek Clubhouse
Time: 7:00 PM
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A stenographer for the House apparently lost it Wednesday night as lawmakers passed a government funding and debt limit deal, Roll Call reports. The stenographer began shouting about God and the Freemasons as the vote took place.
"He will not be mocked. He will not be mocked. Don't touch me. He will not be mocked," the stenographer shouted as she was taken away by U.S. Capitol Police. "The greatest deception here is not 'one nation under God.' It never was. Had it been, it would not have been."
She continued, "The Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons. They go against God."
She went on, "You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."
Lawmakers watched silently as the scene unfolded before them. After the stenographer was removed from the chamber, House members turned to each other.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said the woman had a crazed look on her face, according to the Associated Press.


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Callahan had everything going for her. Everything that is, except for
a relationship. It wasn't for the lack of trying, it just seemed
like she was a magnet for all the wrong ones. But all of that was
about to change the minute she laid eyes on Jake.
a dare from her close friend, Michelle, Kelly accepts a challenge to
date and become Jake's girlfriend within three months. The
consequence of losing is global humiliation, and she refuses to lose.
the help of her childhood friend and confidant, Brian, Kelly manages
to catch Jakes attention. She also unknowingly hooks Brian who tries
to sabotage the plan. Kelly finds herself with a dilemma; take the
final step with Jake and win the plan or follow her heart and reveal
her feelings for Brian.
Horses were one of my first loves, and writing soon followed. As a child, I spent hours writing poems, and short stories (about horses). My parents realized that I was horse-obsessed and decided to buy me one after taking riding lessons for two years. I think they hoped that all of the hard work, and hours spent mucking stalls would help me give up this expensive hobby. They were wrong. Writing is still a passion of mine, although now I primarily write fiction. My first novel, Red Rock, was published in 2010, and big surprise, there are horses in it. My second novel, The Three Month Plan was released August 2013.
Loves: My family, yoga, skincare and makeup, sushi, and raising money
for pediatric cancer. I have two rescue dogs and would have more if
there weren't zoning restrictions. I'm always trying something
new, as I tend to get bored very easily. Thankfully, my love of
driving around with the gas light on fuels some excitement. I love
novels with happy endings, and am a hopeful romantic. My latest
obsession is browsing Netflix, and I can name all 50 states in
alphabetical order in under 30 seconds. Do I feel a wager coming on?


text:
Liberals' Establishment of Religion
One of the reasons liberals are so hostile to public expressions of Christianity is because it threatens the monopoly that the religion of liberalism enjoys in the public square. The late Ted Kennedy was more than a leading senator, to liberal supporters. He was a secular saint. His appeal was essentially religious. He made it fairly explicit in his famous concession speech to the Democratic National Convention that re-nominated President Jimmy Carter. Kennedy reduced thousands of liberal delegates to tears with this emotional peroration:
May it be said of our Party in 1980 that we found our faith again.
And may it be said of us, both in dark passages and in bright days, in the words of Tennyson that my brothers quoted and loved, and that have special meaning for me now:
"I am a part of all that I have met
[Tho] much is taken, much abides
That which we are, we are --
One equal temper of heroic hearts
Strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end.
For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.
Not for Ted Kennedy the cool rationalism of his party's founder, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had famously said "if I had to go to Heaven in a political party, I would not go at all." For Ted Kennedy and for those weeping delegates, the Democratic Party holds that place that used to be reserved for church and church alone. It's no wonder that those teary believers—more than 90 percent of whom tell researchers they never go to church—end their search for the meaning of life in political activism.
Analyze Kennedy's Epistle to the Gentiles and you will see that the concern, the work, the cause, the hope, the dream that is the subject of his panegyric is government. Government giveth and Government taketh away. The only Government worthy of that capital G is one that provides health, education, and welfare. All Americans are invited into the Democratic Church. Only the heretical conservatives are excluded.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was at the Kennedy School at Harvard last week. Liberals go to Harvard the way Muslims go to Mecca. Pelosi was basking in liberal approval for having been the first Speaker to deliver on the promise of universal health care. She established her bona fides early in her sermon. "For thirty years I've been an advocate of single payer," she said. Single payer is liberal speak for socialized medicine, run entirely by the state, paid for by the state. But we have to make some tactical compromises, she said. Well, there may have to be a few little detours on the road to the Heavenly Liberal City.
"We all have our theology in politics," she said to murmurs of approval from her audience. When Gov. George W. Bush said in a Republican debate in 2000 that Jesus Christ was his favorite political philosopher, liberals were aghast. But when Nancy Pelosi speaks of "theology," we must assume she uses the word the way Webster defines it: "the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; especially : the study of God and of God's relation to the world."
For Pelosi, God commands universal health care without a restriction on funding abortion. And God apparently also commands the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. Pelosi invoked the patron saint of San Francisco. She recited the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. It was probably the first time in history that that gentle saint was dragged in to bless the slaughter of innocents and the abolition of matrimony.
Predictably, there were no ACLU protests. And no atheizers ran to MSNBC to deplore her breaching the Wall of Separation between Church and State.
Pelosi was perfectly free not only to preach her religious ideas, but to impose jail time and fines on those who dissent. In the Gospel According to Nancy, the liberal Preacher of the House promises to bring the liberal Heaven to Earth. Is it any wonder growing numbers of Americans think it's a living hell?
Conning the conservatives
Growing up, I always thought Jesus' admonition in the Book of Matthew, "The poor you will always have with you," wasn't meant to be taken literally as a directive to ignore the poor, but that's exactly what a prominent Roman Catholic charity believes.
As this Sunday's "second collection" approaches, most Catholics planning to donate to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development probably think their money will be used to help the poor by funding soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Well, the joke's on them. CCHD has never provided direct relief to the poor. That's not its purpose.
It is an extreme left-wing political organization created to feed and foster radical groups like ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). Most Catholics are blissfully unaware of its true mission, though it says right on its Web site that it aims to support "organized groups of white and minority poor to develop economic strength and political power."
Long mocked as the "Catholic Campaign to Help Democrats," CCHD is the charitable arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Since its creation in 1969 - the year before ACORN was founded - CCHD says it has given more than $290 million to fund what it calls more than 8,000 "low-income-led, community-based projects that strengthen families, create jobs, build affordable housing, fight crime, and improve schools and neighborhoods." Some say the grand total is closer to $450 million.
Both ACORN and CCHD were inspired by radical agitator Saul Alinsky, the Marxist Machiavelli who dedicated his activism opus, "Rules for Radicals," to Lucifer, whom he called "the first radical." The late Mr. Alinsky developed the concept of "community organizing" in order to mobilize poor neighborhoods to make demands, long and loud, on public officials and the private sector.
CCHD gives generously to the Industrial Areas Foundation, which Mr. Alinsky himself founded, and to similar leftist groups including the Gamaliel Foundation, People Improving Communities Through Organizing (PICO), and Direct Action and Research Training Institute (DART).
Over the years, some Catholics have called out CCHD for its Marxist radicalism. Former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, a Catholic layman, complained in the late 1980s that CCHD was a "funding mechanism for radical left-wing political activism in the United States, rather than for traditional types of charities." Catholic writer Paul Likoudis observed that CCHD could be considered "a political mechanism bonding the American Church to the welfare state."
But President Obama is a big believer in CCHD. In 1985-88 he ran the Developing Communities Project from an office in Chicago's Holy Rosary Church. The project was part of the Gamaliel network. "I got my start as a community organizer working with mostly Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago that were struggling because the steel plants had closed," Mr. Obama told Catholic Digest. CCHD "helped fund the project, and so very early on, my career was intertwined with the belief in social justice that is so strong in the church." Mr. Obama has said he "tried to apply the precepts of compassion and care for the vulnerable that are so central to Catholic teachings to my work [such as in] making health care a right for all Americans."
CCHD only cut off ACORN, whose ties to Mr. Obama have been exhaustively documented, as a grant recipient a year ago under intense pressure. It must have been excruciating for CCHD to disown ACORN, its own flesh and blood in the class struggle, in November 2008 after critics raised concerns that some of parishioners' money might have been used for illegal partisan activities.
After years of complaints by conservative Catholics, CCHD finally gave ACORN the heave-ho after channeling $7.3 million in churchgoers' money to the group over the last decade. The bishops acted only after Catholics outraged by reports of legal and ethical improprieties involving ACORN let their views be known.
Bishop Roger Morin announced at the time that ACORN would no longer receive grants "because of serious concerns about financial accountability, organizational performance and political partisanship." A nearly $1 million embezzlement within ACORN, first revealed in the summer of 2008, and its subsequent cover-up by ACORN officials, had been the last straw. At the time, Bishop Morin said CCHD and the Bishops Conference had hired forensic accountants "to help determine if any CCHD money was taken or misused." A forensic audit has been completed, but its findings have not been disclosed.
CCHD director Ralph McCloud admitted some of the funds that CCHD "contributed to ACORN in the past undoubtedly were used for voter registration drives." Most, perhaps all, of the voter drives ACORN conducted were "in support of politicians who support abortion-on-demand and other policies that most Catholics oppose," notes conservative Catholic activist Richard Viguerie. Both CCHD and ACORN have yet to be held to account.
Obama's attorney general does not know even basic law
Mr. Holder the Attorney General was being cross-examined by Senator Graham of the Judiciary Committee, who posed a simple question: "If we captured bin Laden tomorrow, would he be entitled to Miranda warnings at the moment of capture?"
The answer is so simple that even a 1L could get it (Of course, we have no time to say the whole phrase "first-year law student" in Law School, so we call them "1L").
The person in custody is entitled to a Miranda Warning at the moment of custody. Custody is defined as the moment when the party either is or feels he is not free to leave, because he is being detained by an officer of the law acting under the color of legal authority. The defendant must be informed of his Miranda Rights before any questioning, and must be reminded of them periodically, otherwise his testimony (including any evidence springing from his testimony) cannot be admitted as evidence in court.
Got it? The question is "When do Miranda Rights attach?" The answer is: "At the moment of custody."
Holder flubbed the question. His answer was, "Again I'm not -- that all depends. I mean, the notion that we –" Wrong. Even the Asparagus Mascot of the William and Mary law school could tell you that. Even I, who graduated lower in class ranking than the Asparagus, Pocahontas and Tribe Guy put together, could tell you that.
Mr. Graham again provided the correct answer: "Well, it does not depend. If you're going to prosecute anybody in civilian court, our law is clear that the moment custodial interrogation occurs the defendant, the criminal defendant, is entitled to a lawyer and to be informed of their right to remain silent."
So why could Mr. Holder, the Attorney General — a title that implies he wears a bicorn hat and waves a gold sword, commanding whole legions and battalions of Attorney Majors, Attorney Captains, and Paralegal Paratroopers — why could the Attorney General not answer a question any 1L could have aced?
Mr. Graham also asked, "Can you give me a case in United States history where a enemy combatant caught on a battlefield was tried in civilian court?" A standard question. Every law professor at some point asks every law student to cite the precedent to support his case.
Mr. Holder's answer: I don't know. I'd have to look at that. I think that, you know, the determination I've made --
Mr. Graham: "I'll answer it for you. The answer is no."
I'd have to look at that? You mean you did not read the textbook, the outline, or the CrimLaw 101 Nutshell book? Don't have your notes ready, do you? Here I must quote what any prof from my school would have said. These are the words of crusty old Professor Kingsfield from THE PAPER CHASE. "Mister Holder, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer."
I should also mention that Senator Graham served in the Judge Advocate General's office – the JAG corps. GO NAVY!
More here. Background here.
Some Lutherans still respect the Bible: "Conservative members of America's largest Lutheran denomination announced that they are splitting from the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, making it the second mainline Protestant church to undergo a major schism over the issue of homosexuality and related matters of biblical authority. The U.S. Episcopal Church has experienced a similar split, with whole dioceses attempting to leave, new Anglican churches formed and a series of property fights in the years since the 2003 consecration of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. On Wednesday, an 11-member steering committee of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal), meeting in New Brighton, Minn., said it cannot remain inside the 4.7-million-member ELCA after the denomination agreed at its August churchwide assembly in Minneapolis to ordain partnered gay clergy. That decision, CORE said in a statement, created "a biblical and theological crisis throughout the ELCA and conflict in local congregations. "We are not leaving the ELCA. The ELCA has left us," said Ryan Schwarz"
Army to keep media from covering Palin at Fort Bragg: "Army officials plan to prevent media from covering Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg on Monday, saying they fear the event will turn into political grandstanding against President Obama, the Associated Press reports. Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum tells the AP that Army officials had decided to keep media away from Palin's book promotion at the North Carolina base. Other members of the public would be permitted to attend."
Want job growth? Cut taxes: "Unemployment continues to rise, and it is painfully clear that the so-called stimulus bill Congress passed earlier this year has failed. In fact, President Obama has called for a summit on jobs next month and Democrats in Congress are scrambling to hurry through yet another massive spending bill under the guise of job creation. Apparently, they think the stimulus bill didn't spend enough money."
New CO politics in Israel: "Driving through the West Bank recently, I picked up two hitchhikers. Both wore the long, thick sidelocks and extra-large skullcaps that have become the mark of young men on the religious right, especially among settlers. Since they were what Israelis call army age (what Americans would call college age), the conversation turned to military service. Despite Israel's universal draft, the hitchhiker in the back seat said he didn't intend to serve. The Israel Defense Forces, he argued, hurts Jews — a point he presumed was obvious from the 'uprooting' of settlements in Gaza four years ago and the occasional dismantling of tiny, illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank more recently. Besides that, he said, the IDF 'doesn't want to kill Arabs because it wants to look nice in the world.' He didn't want to die because commanders were too concerned with Arabs' lives." [Using the army against settlers is insane. That is police work. It undermines support for the entire IDF]
Palin Derangement Syndrome: When it's time for a long, long rest: "[Andrew] Sullivan's continuing, unrelenting obsession with Palin is bizarre in the extreme. I would also suggest to The Atlantic that they do no good service for Sullivan or themselves by allowing this to continue. Episodes of this kind are the sort of thing one might encounter in a textbook on psychology, one with a heavy emphasis on aberrant behaviors. It is not behavior one expects or hopes to find in a mainstream publication; I say that even as someone with a notably low opinion of the content of all such publications. Still, to hope for certain limits would not seem to be beyond the bounds of reasonable expectations."
Choking the Blue Dogs: "The political collars continue to tighten around Blue Dogs and other Democrats representing Republican-leaning congressional districts. Recent election results in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as a bevy of new polls, all suggest these vulnerable lawmakers face an increasingly hostile environment entering the 2010 election year. At-risk Democrats are experimenting with different voting strategies to achieve political survival. Some support the White House, calculating that cozying up to the president and liberal interests groups will yield electoral dividends. Others are distancing themselves from a president rapidly losing altitude with swing voters. Time will tell which strategy works better. Yet a return to normal voting patterns — after GOP under performance in 2006 and 2008 in some of these districts — could swamp many Democrats next year, no matter how they posture themselves in Washington."
My Twitter.com identity: jonjayray. My Facebook page is also accessible as jonjayray (In full: http://www.facebook.com/jonjayray). For more blog postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, EYE ON BRITAIN and Paralipomena
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The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)


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Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances.
Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey toward recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father's actions. Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and sociopolitical layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today's world and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.


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I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Summer is the time when many people decide to take that trip they've been putting off to visit distant relatives, introduce the kids and maybe even bring home some business. Presidents are no different. President Obama and his family are in Africa now. It'll be the longest visit to Africa of his presidency and has been much anticipated on the continent, after his barely 24-hour visit to just one country, Ghana, in his first term.
To mark the occasion, we've decided to dedicate this entire hour to issues on the continent. We'll hear more about some new developments about Africa's rising middle class that you might not have heard much about. We'll also have our regular barbershop segment. First though, we wanted to learn more about the president's trip. He's been in Senegal. He's in South Africa today, and he'll end his trip in Tanzania next week. But first, here's President Obama in Senegal yesterday setting out his hopes for the visit.
BARACK OBAMA: What I want us to do is to have a shift in paradigm where we start focusing on trade, development, partnerships where we see ourselves as benefiting and not simply giving in the relationship with Africa.
MARTIN: We wanted to hear more about all of these issues, so we've called Howard French. He's an associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He's reported widely in Africa over many years and he's with us now. Thank you so much for joining us.
HOWARD FRENCH: Thank you for having me.
MARTIN: Well, first of all, I just wanted to ask about the president's itinerary. It was designed to cover West, South, and East Africa. But why do you think these three particular countries were chosen?
FRENCH: Senegal because it has been very cooperative with the United States in a number of ways, from military security to various other sort of diplomatic programs that we've had for years in that region. It's a stable democracy. It had a sort of democratic triumph just recently, in terms of rebuffing an effort by the last, most recent, president to extend his mandate under constitutionally questionable grounds. So Senegal is a sort of good democracy story.
South Africa because it has long been the continent's largest economy, and because it's also a democratic country with, you know, a very positive, politically speaking, post-apartheid history. And Tanzania because it is an emerging democracy with recent discovery of the possibility, at least, of very significant amounts of hydrocarbons in its offshore waters. And so, given the desire to sort of sprinkle Obama around regionally, I think they've found good economic and/or political reasons to choose each of these countries.
MARTIN: We understand, though, that there is some unhappiness about the itinerary, particularly in Kenya. Not just because he's not visiting his grandma, but also there seems to be feelings that perhaps this signals some sort of a shift away from Kenya as a major U.S. ally in the region. Do you think that those concerns are justified?
FRENCH: It's a complicated situation. So the newly elected president of Kenya is wrapped up in a legal case that could force him to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for atrocities related to a previous election in that country. Washington has decided that it doesn't want to associate the prestige of the presidency with a dubious human rights situation like that. This has hurt the feelings of many Kenyans, but I don't see any easy way out of it, frankly.
MARTIN: If you're just joining us, I'm speaking with Howard French. He's a professor at Columbia University. He has a deep reporting background in Africa. We're talking about President Obama's visit. I want to talk about an article you wrote. In 2008, you wrote a piece called "Obama and Africa: The Change We Have Been Waiting For?," and it has a question mark in the headline. And in it, you wrote that given his unique background - I think by now everybody knows his biography - his election offered an opportunity to assert America's moral and political leadership in Africa.
And you ended the piece by saying that to waste this moment would be more than a lost opportunity, it would be a tragedy. So for people who didn't read the piece, I wanted to ask you why you feel it's so important that the U.S. assert its moral and political leadership in Africa, and I wonder, of course, if you feel that that it is doing so.
FRENCH: Well, I felt back then, already, that the story of contemporary Africa was sort of misapprehended in this country. So I thought that the Obama presidency offered an opportunity to break with a number of unfortunate patterns of the past. In terms of the way we talk about Africa, we have always emphasized Africa as a human rights story or as a humanitarian emergencies story or as a story about a lesson of how we need to uplift these poor, unfortunate people.
And while there's nothing wrong certainly with human rights or with humanitarian assistance, I thought that this was an occasion to break out of those confines and to speak about Africa in terms of its rising prospects, not just as part of the world that can be assisted in a sort of paternalized way, but which can be engaged with for mutual benefit. A place with rising prospects for the future where if we could only change our language, we could also profit in terms of how we relate to Africans.
MARTIN: Do you feel that what you hope America would do is happening?
FRENCH: No, I don't think it's been happening. Certainly not anything like the degree to which I had hoped it would happen. Obama has been essentially absent from the African scene since his trip to Ghana, which was a sort of lightning visit on his way back from Russia. He stopped in Ghana for 24 hours and this was, up until now, his first and only visit to the continent. In these intervening years between 2008 and 2013, what has happened is that the world's second biggest economy, China, has seized on the notion of Africa as a place of extraordinary opportunity, and sort of jumped in with both feet.
I don't begrudge China its presence. I think that nations everywhere should look for opportunities for themselves. The Chinese have done that with gusto in Africa. Chinese leaders at the presidential and prime ministerial level visit Africa every year, on average at a minimum. Every single year, either the president or the prime minister goes to Africa. The pattern for American leaders has been to go once in a presidency or, at most, twice in a presidency.
MARTIN: Especially in the second term.
FRENCH: Especially in...
MARTIN: Yeah.
FRENCH: ...A second term.
MARTIN: And you note, by conscious - I just want to mention to your point that over the last five years, China's top leaders have visited around 30 African countries, and the current president has already visited three African countries since he took office this March.
FRENCH: Right.
MARTIN: So.
FRENCH: So the point is, a lot has happened since 2008, and Africa is no longer at the very beginnings of what I think is, globally speaking, a pretty positive story for itself historically, in terms of its prospects and its fundamentals. And my feeling is that having squandered so much time and so much goodwill, that Obama had largely, because of his biographical background - the United States really finds itself in a position where it's going to have to work really, very hard to secure the attention and the goodwill and credit of Africans who no longer feel so much in doubt about themselves in many countries.
MARTIN: But isn't part of the issue here that China's leaders don't have the same domestic constituencies, which express themselves in the same way? I mean, even in advance of this trip, there were people saying that the president should cancel the trip because there was so much pending legislation, there were things that he needs to do. Obviously, that's coming from certain quarters, who are generally critical of him anyway. I mean, but is part of the issue that, you know, that domestic constituencies assert themselves in the U.S. in a way that they don't, in a way, and that China's leaders have, in some ways, a freer hand?
FRENCH: Well, you can come at that from a lot of different directions. One is, you spoke of second term presidents. Second term presidents, historically, have very often tended to be foreign policy presidents more than their first term. And so in that sense, Obama is probably engaging in very classic behavior. But the other really salient difference between the United States and the Chinese, I would say, isn't just about the nature of the political system, but the nature of the policy.
China doesn't have 13 percent of its people whose backgrounds are traced to Africa. So the notion that an American president, particularly an American president of this special background, needing to justify making visits to Africa, which is the fastest-growing continent in the world, economically and demographically, strikes me as preposterous.
MARTIN: Do you think there is still time and room for the U.S. to catch up? And how should it go about doing so?
FRENCH: I think it's possible for the U.S. to catch up. I'm not sure that Washington and our media cultures are yet seized, in fact, with the dimensions of what's taking place in Africa and with the need to break with kind of old mindsets that relegate Africa to a sort of secondary status, an afterthought status is the best way to put it. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take consistent engagement. It's going to take multiple, repeated high-level visits. But we have to change the way we engage with Africa.
And the past patterns have been perceived, for a long time, as very patronizing and sort of slighting by Africans. The typical thing is, you invite a few African leaders to Washington and bring them into the White House for a photo op, you know, three, four, five of them at a time, as if, you know, the premise there is that no African country, perhaps save South Africa, is worth a one-on-one discussion with the president in the White House. Africans are not going to give you their time of day if that's the way you treat them nowadays. And this is really the moment to reconsider how we engage with the continent and to reinvest ourselves if we want to be part of the scene there.
MARTIN: What do you most hope will come out of this visit on both sides? I mean, recognizing that the United States is one country and that Africa is, you know, more than 50, but - what do you hope will come out of this visit?
FRENCH: Well, so one thing that is happening on this trip is that Obama has taken - and I give great credit to the administration for organizing it - apparently has taken a great many businesspeople with him on this trip. And, you know, I just completed a book which is due out next year about China's relationship with Africa, and one of the things that I was struck by and even shocked by was to notice that through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which was created by George Bush, as you said, the United States gives guaranteed loans for development projects of various kinds all over the place in Africa.
And as I went from country to country researching this book, I discovered that a great many of these contracts are never bid for by American companies, despite having guaranteed funding by the United States government. We're talking $50, $75, $200 million contracts that, because the image of Africa has been so persistently negative in this country, because there is such an absolute absence of - or near absolute absence of business coverage of Africa in United States, because there's such an ignorance of the fact that Africa is growing and growing fast, and urbanizing and urbanizing faster than any other part of the world, you know, American companies don't even, it doesn't enter their minds to think that maybe there's some opportunity to do business in Africa that could be very lucrative for them.
And so Obama taking, I don't know, a couple of hundred or however many businesspeople with him to Africa, I think is a very welcome gesture and marks what I think of as really just the beginning of the sort of thing that needs to be done if we're going to engage effectively.
MARTIN: Howard French is an associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His forthcoming book is titled "China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa." It's due out next spring. But he was kind enough to join us now from the studios at Columbia University in New York. Professor French, thank you so much for speaking with us.
FRENCH: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Components are larger extensions that produce the major content for your site. Each component has one or more "views" that control how content is displayed.In the Joomla! administrator there are additional extensions suce as Menus, Redirection, and the extension managers.
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News Feeds (com_newsfeeds) provides a way to organize and present news feeds. News feeds are a way that you present information from another site on your site. For example, the joomla.org website has numerous feeds that you an incorporate on your site. You an use menus to present a single feed, a list of feeds in a category, or or a list of all feed categories. Help
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