text:
As the return of college students to campuses has fueled as many as 3,000 COVID-19 cases a day, keeping track of them is a logistical nightmare for local health departments and colleges.
Some students are putting down their home addresses instead of their college ones on their COVID testing forms — slowing the transfer of case data and hampering contact tracing across state and county lines.
The address issue has real consequences, as any delay in getting the case to the appropriate authorities allows the coronavirus to continue to spread unchecked. Making matters worse, college-age people already tend to be hard to trace because they are unlikely to answer a phone call from an unknown number.
"With that virus, you really need to be able to identify that case and their contacts in 72 hours," said Indiana University's assistant director for public health, Graham McKeen.
And if the students do go home once infected, where should their cases be counted? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted this issue in a recent study of an unnamed North Carolina university's COVID outbreak, stating that the number of cases was likely an underestimate. "For example, some cases were reported to students' home jurisdictions, some students did not identify themselves as students to the county health department, some students did not report to the student health clinic, and not all students were tested," it said.
The White House coronavirus task force even addressed the problem in weekly memos sent to the governors of Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky and New Jersey. "Do not reassign cases that test positive in university settings to hometown as this lessens ability to track and control local spread," it recommended late last month in the memos, made public by the Center for Public Integrity.
While the full scope of the address confusion is unclear, the health departments of California, Indiana, Iowa and Virginia all acknowledged the challenges that arise when college cases cross state and county lines.
The maze of calls needed to track such cases also lays bare a larger problem: the lack of an interconnected COVID tracking system. Colleges have been setting up their own contact tracing centers to supplement overstretched local and state health departments.
"It is very patchwork, and people operate very differently, and it also doesn't translate during a pandemic," said McKeen, whose own university has had more than 2,900 cases across its Indiana campuses. "It made it very clear the public health system in this country is horribly underfunded and understaffed."
Colleges' transient populations have forever bedeviled public health when it comes to reportable infectious diseases, such as measles and bacterial meningitis, Association of Public Health Laboratories spokesperson Michelle Forman said in an email to KHN. But the coronavirus infections spreading across the country's universities, and the mass testing conducted to find them, are something else altogether.
"COVID is just a different scale," she said.
Lisa Cox, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said the issue of transient addresses affects more than just college students. Jails and rehab facilities also have people moving in and out, exacerbating the risk of disease spread and the difficulty in tracking it.
The crush of student cases at the start of a new term, though, can be overwhelming. As students returned to the University of Missouri, the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services saw a COVID spike, with the peak reaching more than 200 new cases per day.
"So, first of all, we're delayed anyway because we can't keep up with the onslaught of cases," said Scott Clardy, assistant director of the health department.
But then, he added, these address mishaps required his department to spend time attempting to reclassify counts and contact possibly infected people.
"It slows us down," he said, estimating the department was up to five days behind in mid-September on contacting infected people and reaching out to those who may have been exposed to the virus.
The University of Missouri has had more than 1,600 cases so far, but spokesperson Christian Basi said the number of new cases has dropped significantly. By the end of September, the health department had finally caught up, Clardy said, letting staffers trace contacts more quickly.
This address issue can also mean some cases are potentially being undercounted, double counted or initially counted incorrectly as state health departments sort out where these infected students actually are staying, Indiana University's McKeen said — potentially skewing case counts and positivity rates for local jurisdictions. He has noticed several such cases.
Iowa and Indiana officials said they were working with localities to ensure cases did not go miscounted, including developing directions for college students to put down their school address. Virginia officials said their contact tracers work diligently to identify the infected person's current location and share it with other health departments if it is out of Virginia.
In Massachusetts, Pat Bruchmann, chief public health nurse for the Worcester Division of Public Health, said she had noticed some students at the 11 colleges in her district were getting tested off campus or when they went home for the weekend. In response, her department now proactively looks for positive test results among people who are of typical college age. So far, she's had 10 or so cases reassigned to her department from other areas because of address issues, Bruchmann said.
Back in Missouri, freshman Kate Taylor said she fell through the cracks amid the initial rush of cases at the University of Missouri at the end of August.
After testing positive for COVID-19, Taylor said, she was told there wasn't enough room for her to quarantine on campus. The university's Basi denied that any students had been told the school didn't have enough space but said he could not discuss details of Taylor's case without her consent.
The 18-year-old student said she went home 2½ hours away to Jefferson County, where she was told her case would be transferred to local officials. But after nine days of quarantining, Taylor said, she never heard from anyone at her local health department.
She said her contact tracing experience wasn't much better: Her boyfriend at the university got a call about her case, but the tracer got him confused with her roommate. The tracer then hung up.


text:
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Suzanne Woods is March EOM
Visiting Director of Disability Services Suzanne Woods, thought she was on a way to a meeting with her boss when she got a big surprise. Woods was named March 2010 employee of the month during a ceremony in the PAC Restaurant.
Judy Shipp, Director of the Counseling Center helped pull off the trick. Woods says she had no idea she was about to be honored.
"I fell right into it, went right along with her. She came to my office and we had a pre-meeting. She's very good at this," said Woods.
Woods was recognized for her commitment to students with disabilities, helping provide them with services that insure their success at UIS.
"I'm really flabbergasted. There are so many wonderful employees on this campus and I'm really privileged to work with many of them every day," she said.
Woods has committed herself to helping people with disabilities. She's worked for the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois, the Illinois Assistive Technology Program, and the Arc of Illinois. She also serves as the chair of ISAC (Illinois State Advisory Council on the Education of Children with Disabilities).
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
How To Render A Video Timeline
tarihinde .Soon I will have to answer the question, "How do I render a video timeline using Python & Glade / PyGTK?". Their are obviously no widgets that are made for this function, and I can't exactly assemble buttons, images, and labels on the screen and make it look very nice or believable.
The answer is Cairo. Not the city in Egypt, but rather the open-source, multi-platform 2D graphics library, with a special set of bindings for Python (PyCairo).
So, given my limited knowledge so far, the plan is to use Glade for almost all of the interface, dialogs, and use Cairo only to draw the video / audio timeline on the screen. Cairo should give me all the control I need to allow the user to drag clips around, snap them to the timeline, trim clips, etc... And best of all, it will give me 100% control over how I want that experience to look & feel.
Not that it matters, but the failed Diva project & the Jokosher project also used Cairo to render their timelines. That adds to my confidence that this is the right direction to go.
Here is a simple Python example of some Cairo code, which draws a happy face on the screen:
#! /usr/bin/env python
import pygtk
import gtk, gobject, cairo
from math import pi
# Create a GTK+ widget on which we will draw using Cairo
class Screen(gtk.DrawingArea):
# Draw in response to an expose-event
__gsignals__ = { "expose-event": "override" }
# Handle the expose-event by drawing
def do_expose_event(self, event):
# Create the cairo context
cr = self.window.cairo_create()
# Restrict Cairo to the exposed area; avoid extra work
cr.rectangle(event.area.x, event.area.y,
event.area.width, event.area.height)
self.draw(cr, *self.window.get_size() )
def draw(self, cr, width, height):
# Fill the background with gray
cr.set_source_rgb(0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
cr.rectangle(0, 0, width, height)
# draw a rectangle
cr.set_source_rgb(1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
cr.rectangle(10, 10, width - 20, height - 20)
# draw lines
cr.set_source_rgb(0.0, 0.0, 0.8)
cr.move_to(width / 3.0, height / 3.0)
cr.rel_line_to(0, height / 6.0)
cr.move_to(2 * width / 3.0, height / 3.0)
cr.rel_line_to(0, height / 6.0)
# and a circle
cr.set_source_rgb(1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
radius = min(width, height)
cr.arc(width / 2.0, height / 2.0, radius / 2.0 - 20, 0, 2 * pi)
cr.arc(width / 2.0, height / 2.0, radius / 3.0 - 10, pi / 3, 2 * pi / 3)
# GTK mumbo-jumbo to show the widget in a window and quit when it's closed
def run(Widget):
window = gtk.Window()
window.connect("delete-event", gtk.main_quit)
widget = Widget()
if __name__ == "__main__":


text:
SAS Canada #12 on Best Workplaces in Canada list
Committed to investing in employee satisfaction, community and environmental stewardship
SAS Canada, the leader in analytics is No. 12 on the 2016 Best Workplaces in Canada 50 Best Large and Multinational Workplaces in Canada. SAS Canada is one of the top companies on the list, published by the Great Place to Work Institute® Canada, because of its commitment to investing in employee satisfaction, environmental sustainability, employee benefits, and for its dedication and focus to the community.
"A key pillar of our culture is our commitment to customers," emphasized Cameron Dow, President, SAS Canada. "As a knowledge-based company the only way we can execute on this focus is through our people; they are the force that drives SAS' success which is why attracting the best and brightest is integral to our success."
This list of "Best Workplaces in Canada" is compiled by Great Place to Work Institute Canada. The competition process is based on two criteria: two-thirds of the total score comes from a survey completed by a random selection of employees, along with their open-ended comments about their organization; the remaining one-third of the score comes from an in-depth review of the organization's culture, including an evaluation of HR policies and procedures.
Earlier in 2016 SAS Canada SAS celebrated another successful year increasing revenue by 12 per cent over 2014. To support its ongoing growth, SAS Canada will continue hiring for the 27th consecutive year, investing in analytics skills in sales and professional services roles, increasing its workforce by more than 8% per cent across the country.
"Continually striving to offer our employees an inspiring place to work is core to SAS' beliefs, and we remain committed to this goal," said Kerry Tompson, Vice President Human Resources, SAS Canada and Latin America
About Great Place to Work
Great Place to Work® is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. We are a research and consulting firm whose mission is to build a better society by helping companies transform their workplaces. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services, and employer branding programs, including workplace certification and Best Workplaces lists, Great Place to Work® provides the benchmarks, framework, and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In Canada, Great Place to Work® produces the annual 100 Best Workplaces list, released in a national feature in the Globe and Mail. This is part of the world's largest annual workplace study, which culminates in a series of national lists in almost 50 countries, including the study's flagship list of 100 Best companies published annually in Fortune magazine. Globally, this survey represents the voices of 11 million employees, including approximately 300,000 from Canada alone. It's what makes this study so credible: the primary determinant used in selecting winners is an employee survey. There's only one way to get on this list – and that's if your employees put you there.
About SAS
SAS is a global leader in data and AI. With SAS software and industry-specific solutions, organizations transform data into trusted decisions. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.


text:
An official website of the United States government
Steadily growing global demand for grain crops has generated higher crop prices and increased demand for fertilizers, particularly imported fertilizers. As corn prices remain high, U.S. corn growers are expected to plant 97.3 million acres of corn in 2013, representing the largest planting since 1936.1 This large planting is likely to translate into another year of high fertilizer prices. However, other factors such as changing input prices often have an impact on fertilizer prices. The severity of the drought in 2012 caused an unanticipated decline in the demand for fertilizer leading to large price declines. Looking at trends in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) import price index for fertilizer can help shed some light on the changing price dynamics.
Fertilizers are substances that can be applied to the soil to increase yields and quality in crops, especially when combined with favorable weather. U.S. farmers rely heavily on imports for their fertilizer supplies. In 2011, the United States imported 13.4 billion dollars of fertilizer and produced 24.1 billion dollars of fertilizer.2 (See chart 1.) The dollar value of imported fertilizer to the United States increased 466.2 percent between 2002 and 2011, more than three times the rate of domestic fertilizer during the same period.
There are three major types of fertilizer: nitrogen, potash, and phosphate. Of the three principle fertilizer types, the United States imported more than 50 percent of U.S. nitrogen supplies and 85 percent of U.S. potash supplies, making these fertilizer imports especially important for U.S. crop production.3 Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Russia, and the Near East were the largest suppliers of nitrogen to the United States, although Canada, Belarus, and Russia supplied the vast majority of potash imports.4 Most of the U.S. phosphate supply, in contrast, was produced domestically, making the United States the world's largest phosphate exporter.5
U.S. import fertilizer prices have been on the rise in recent years and have nearly doubled since the index was first published in December 2007. (See chart 2.) From December 2007 to October 2008, prices for import fertilizer jumped 90.4 percent. That period coincided with a sharp runup in many commodity prices, which affected both the prices of commercial grain crops, and major products that were used to manufacture fertilizer, notably natural gas. However, during the latter months of 2008, the U.S. economy experienced a general reversal in price trends, including fertilizer. Import fertilizer prices fell 39.8 percent from October 2008 to July 2009.
Following the summer of 2009, with a few exceptions, prices for imported fertilizer rose steadily, before the most recent peak at the start of the summer growing season in 2012. From July 2009 to June 2012, the price index for imported fertilizer increased 93.1 percent. Import fertilizer prices fell 9.5 percent from June 2012 to March 2013.
During the period from mid-2009 to March 2013, the two main factors that have traditionally influenced fertilizer import prices—the price of grain crops and the U.S. price of natural gas—started to move in different directions.
Grain prices have increased over the past 3 years. Corn has been the most important of the grains, accounting for the most acreage, using the most fertilizer, and recently set price records in 2012. Chart 2 illustrates how corn has experienced large price increases since early 2010. Since 2009, planted domestic corn acreage has increased 12.6 percent, particularly in response to the record-breaking prices.6 Corn is estimated to account for approximately 40 percent of U.S. fertilizer consumption.7
Increases in corn demand for ethanol production, drought weather conditions, and low grain stocks were some factors for higher corn prices.8 These price pressures occurred amidst a backdrop of other long term factors strengthening global grain demand, such as population growth, and increased demand for grain-fed animal protein enabled by global economic growth.9
These high grain prices gave U.S. farmers an incentive to plant more acreage and invest more money into crop inputs. Insufficient domestic fertilizer supplies and rising grain prices created greater demand for imported fertilizer and a subsequent rise in import fertilizer prices. As seen in chart 2, import prices advanced 93.1 percent for the 3-year period from July 2009 to June 2012. The June 2012 price peak coincided with the high growth season, when most nitrogen fertilizers are applied to corn.10
However, from the June 2012 peak to March 2013, the import fertilizer price index declined 9.5 percent, while many grain prices continued to increase. This seemingly contradictory outcome was a result of a combination of factors. During the 2012 drought, farmers ceased to apply fertilizer to crops that were already dying. In addition, with drought conditions, fertilizers were less likely to leach away in runoff. With fertilizers not consumed by the drought stricken and dying crops, nor leached away as quickly by rain, some residual fertilizers were more likely to remain in the soils and this could reduce demand for the next year's fertilizer orders. In the second half of 2012, fertilizer import prices started to decrease. These factors had a major impact on the fall 2012 phosphate and potash applications. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 2012 nitrogen imports were similar to the elevated 2011 levels because of high grain prices, but phosphate and potash imports declined 22 percent and 20 percent, respectively.11
Inorganic fertilizer production is an energy intensive process, relying heavily on electricity, petroleum, and especially natural gas for manufacture and transport. Natural gas constitutes approximately 74 percent of the energy used to manufacture fertilizers.12 High energy prices were cited as a principle factor that led to the record fertilizer prices reached in 2008.13 Although most potassium and phosphorus supplies need to be mined, industrial nitrogen fertilizers are mainly produced from natural gas synthesized ammonia compounds. According to The Fertilizer Institute's Ammonia Production Cost Survey, natural gas accounts for 72 percent to 85 percent of the cost of ammonia production.14
Because nitrogen fertilizers account for the largest amount of import trade dollars in the import price index, and natural gas is the overwhelming input cost for nitrogen fertilizers, decreasing U.S. natural gas prices should have put downward pressure on import fertilizer prices because more nitrogen fertilizer would be produced domestically. However, most domestic nitrogen fertilizer producers could not scale up capacity fast enough to take back market share that had been lost to import fertilizer suppliers. During the 2002–2008 period, increasing natural gas prices contributed to U.S. nitrogen plant closures, and fertilizer prices rose with natural gas prices and increased imports.15 In contrast, Chart 2 shows that since early 2010, import fertilizer prices rose while natural gas prices declined. This decoupling can partially be explained by natural gas being a mostly regional commodity that had a steep and unexpected price decrease in the United States. New drilling technologies were implemented to expand natural gas supplies in the United States faster than in the nitrogen fertilizer export countries.16 Because of the unexpectedly strong decline in U.S. natural gas prices, domestic nitrogen producers have not scaled up production capacity fast enough to reduce reliance on imports. Demand remained high for fertilizer imports, despite the decline in natural gas prices. Existing U.S. ammonia producers are now price competitive and several new plants are under construction.17 While the insufficient availability of domestic supply was a factor in rising import fertilizer prices, the principle price factor was the demand generated from high grain prices.
Prior to 2010, import fertilizer prices were directly influenced by the demand for fertilizer as well as the price of natural gas, a key component in the manufacture of many fertilizers. Falling domestic natural gas prices over the past few years appeared to have had comparatively little impact on fertilizer prices, which trended up primarily due to ever-increasing demand. Because domestic fertilizer production was insufficient, fertilizer imports increased in order to supply the demand generated by high grain prices. However, the second half of 2012 exhibited a reversal of the recent trend, although grain prices reached record highs, fertilizer applications were reduced for crops that were failing from drought conditions. The BLS import fertilizer price index will continue to be important to watch during the 2013 growing season, as the rapid increase in U.S. natural gas supplies and volatile grain prices are likely to affect the domestic fertilizer supply and the demand for fertilizer imports.
The price index for overall imports increased 0.6 percent during the first quarter of 2013, despite a 0.5-percent decline in March. The advance followed a 1.0-percent decrease in the final quarter of 2012. Driving up the index for imports was an increase in prices for imports of fuels and lubricants, which advanced 2.7 percent during the first quarter of 2013, despite a decline of 1.9 percent in March. The price index for nonfuel imports also increased over the quarter, ticking up 0.1 percent.
Fuel imports. The advance for the quarter ended in March, followed a 4.3-percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2012, and was driven by advances of 1.8 percent in January and 2.8 percent in February. An increase in petroleum prices, which rose 3.2 percent over the first 3 months of the year, was responsible for the quarterly increase, and more than offset a 9.3-percent decline in natural gas prices.
A 2.2-percent advance in January, followed by a 3.0-percent rise in February, resulted in the quarterly increase in petroleum prices, despite a 1.9-percent decline in March. A major reason for the rise in January was an announced reduction in production by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer. The country cut production by 400,000 barrels in December 2012.18 Encouraging economic news from China also contributed to the increase in oil prices in January. The Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corporation purchasing managers index increased in January, reflecting an expansion in manufacturing.19 Expansion in China's manufacturing means greater demand for petroleum. Petroleum prices continued to rise in February, and this rise was primarily attributed to forecasted improvement in worldwide demand and strong trade data from China.20 In addition, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced in February that world oil demand will grow faster in 2013 than previously expected, increasing its forecast to 1.05 million barrels-per-day (bpd), up 100,000 bpd from the previous forecast.21 However, petroleum prices declined 1.9 percent in March largely from increases in the supply and wavering demand. During March, the EIA announced an increase in U.S. crude supplies of 2.6 million barrels per week, and industrial production in the eurozone countries declined.22
The price index for natural gas declined 9.3 percent during the first quarter of 2013, led by a 6.1-percent decrease in January. The decline in the first quarter of 2013 was in stark contrast to the previous quarter's increase of 54.9 percent. High natural gas stocks, as reported by the EIA, helped lower prices. At the beginning of February, stocks of natural gas stood at 2.864 trillion cubic feet, 351 billion cubic feet above the 5-year average.23
Nonfuel imports. The price index for nonfuel imports excluding fuels ticked up 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2013, due to increases in January and February of 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. The monthly increases were largely offset by a 0.2 percent decline in March. As seen in chart 3, rising prices for foods, feeds, and beverages drove the increase, while falling prices for automotive vehicles partially offset the advance.
Foods, feeds, and beverages increased 2.4 percent during the first quarter of 2013, the first quarterly increase since a 1.2-percent advance during the first quarter of 2012. Prices for vegetables and vegetable preparations rose 7.7 percent in March, after advancing 3.3 percent in February. Higher fish and shellfish prices also contributed to the increase in the food category, advancing 2.3 percent in February and 3.8 percent in March.
With the exception of fuel, prices for the other major categories had a smaller impact on the overall movement of import prices. The price index for industrial supplies and materials, excluding fuel increased 0.2 percent, while, in contrast, automotive vehicles prices and prices for capital goods decreased 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
Export prices. In the first quarter of 2013 the price index for overall exports increased 0.7 percent, following a 0.7-percent decrease in the fourth quarter of 2012. Prices for agricultural commodities declined 1.0 percent between January and March, while nonagricultural export prices rose 0.9 percent.
Agricultural exports. The price index for agricultural exports decreased 1.0 percent in the first quarter of 2013, due to declines of 1.8 percent and 1.2 percent in March and January, respectively, and despite a 2.1-percent advance in February. Improved weather forecasts for Brazil and Argentina contributed to the falling prices for corn, wheat, and soybeans, which decreased 8.6 percent, 7.9 percent, and 3.5 percent, in January.24 In February, prices for soybeans and corn rose 3.8 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, on concerns that the Brazilian and Argentinean crops would suffer from lack of rain. In March, decreasing prices for fruit and soybeans, which fell 7.1 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, led the decline. Wheat prices fell after the USDA increased their forecast for wheat supplies.
Nonagricultural exports. The price index for nonagricultural exports increased 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, after decreasing 0.5 percent in the final quarter of 2012. The quarterly increase was led by a 0.5-percent increase in January, followed by a 0.6-percent increase in February. As seen in chart 4, the price indexes for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials and capital goods were the primary contributors to the quarterly increase.
Nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials prices rose 1.3 percent for the January–March period on the strength of rising fuel prices. Prices for capital goods increased 1.0 percent during the first quarter of 2013, due to higher computer and semiconductor prices. Automotive vehicles increased 0.5 percent for the first quarter of 2013, while consumer goods declined 0.6 percent.
This BEYOND the NUMBERS was prepared by Edwin Bennion and Jon Ruder, economists, in the Office of Prices and Living Conditions, Washington, DC. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. Telephone: 202-691-7101.
For more benefits information, see www.bls.gov/mxp. For additional assistance, contact one of our information offices: National-Washington, DC: (202) 691-6199, TDD (800) 877-8339; Atlanta (404) 893-4222; Boston: (617) 565-2327; Chicago: (312) 353-1880; Dallas: (972) 850-4800; Kansas City: (816) 285-7000; New York: (646) 264-3600; Philadelphia: (215) 597-3282; San Francisco: (415) 625-2270.
Information in this article will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339. This article is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission.
Jon Ruder and Edwin Bennion, "Growing demand for fertilizer keeps prices high," Beyond the Numbers: Global Economy, vol. 2, no. 12 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2013), https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-2/growing-demand-for-fertilizer-keeps-prices-high.htm
1 Prospective Plantings (USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service), http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/ProsPlan/ProsPlan-03-28-2013_revision.pdf.
2 "U.S. imports and exports of selected fertilizers, by country" (Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture), http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/fertilizer-importsexports/standard-tables.aspx. "Gross Domestic Product by Industry Data" (Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce), https://www.bea.gov/industry/gdpbyind_data.htm.
3 Wen-yuan Huang, "Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in U.S. Fertilizer Prices, 2002-08" (Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/184258/ar33.pdf.
4 "2012 Saw Near Record Imports of Nitrogen," http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/fertilizer-importsexports/summary-of-the-data-findings.aspx.
5 National Agricultural Statistics Service dataset, http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_Subject/index.php?sector=CROPS.
6 "Annual Fertilizer Consumption Has Become More Volatile Since 2004" (Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture), http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-practices-management/chemical-inputs/fertilizer-use-markets.aspx.
7 Will Adonizio and Nancy Kook,[vii] "Impact of the drought on corn exports: paying the price," Beyond the Numbers: Global Economies (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2012), https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-1/impact-of-the-drought-on-corn-exports-paying-the-price.htm.
8 "Addressing the Global Food Crisis: Key trade, investment and commodity policies in ensuring sustainable food security and alleviating poverty," United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (United Nations, 2008), http://unctad.org/en/Docs/osg20081_en.pdf.
9 The most efficient use of nitrogen for corn applications is to apply it prior to the rapid growth stage. Often the corn will be 10–16 inches tall at this point. The actual date and size will depend on various factors such as latitude, weather conditions, germination dates, etc.
10 "2012 Saw Near Record Imports of Nitrogen," http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/fertilizer-importsexports/summary-of-the-data-findings.aspx.
11 Clif Twaddle, "Fertilizers and Energy" Chapter 8 in the Fertilizer Handbook, The Fertilizer Institute, 1982.
12 "Fertilizer Use and Price" (Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture), https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/fertilizer-use-and-price.aspx.
13 "Ammonia Production Cost Survey," The Fertilizer Institute. International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development, Muscle Shoals, AL December 2005.
14 Huang, "Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in U.S. Fertilizer Prices."
15 Nitrogen imports increased from 19 percent of U.S. consumption in 2002 to about 50 percent in 2011. "Annual Fertilizer Consumption Has Become More Volatile Since 2004" (Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-practices-management/chemical-inputs/fertilizer-use-markets.aspx, Huang, "Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in U.S. Fertilizer Prices." https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/35824/10935_ar33.pdf?v=0.
16 "2012 Saw Near Record Imports of Nitrogen," http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/fertilizer-importsexports/summary-of-the-data-findings.aspx.
17 Steve Hargreaves, "Oil Prices Jump 10% in a Month," CNN Money, January 11, 2013, http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/11/news/economy/oil-prices/index.html.
18 Pablo Gorondi, "Oil Prices Get Boost from China Manufacturing," Associated Press, January 24, 2013, http://news.yahoo.com/oil-prices-boost-china-manufacturing-060353141.html.
19 "Oil Prices Rise After China's Imports and Exports Surge for the Month of January," Associated Press, February 8, 2013, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/08/oil-prices-rise-after-china-imports-and-exports-surge-for-month-january/.
20 "Oil Demand Up, Gas Prices to Peak in May, EIA Says," Chicago Tribune, February 12, 2013, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-12/business/chi-oil-demand-up-gas-prices-to-peak-in-may-eia-says-20130212_1_oil-demand-bpd-global-oil-consumption.
21 "Oil Prices Fall on Rising U.S. Crude Supplies, Weak European Industrial Production" Associated Press, March 14, 2013, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/14/oil-prices-fall-on-rising-us-crude-supplies-weak-european-industrial-production/.
22 "Natural-gas Prices Fall Further After EIA Data" Market Watch, February 7, 2013, http://articles.marketwatch.com/2013-02-07/markets/36962139_1_natural-gas-prices-fall-cubic-feet-eia-data.
23 "Soybean Prices Fall on Rain Forecasts," The Associated Press, January 23, 2013.
24 Owen Fletcher, "Wheat Prices Slip as USDA Forecasts Higher Supplies," The Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324128504578348621461968886.html.
Publish Date: Friday, May 10, 2013


text:
This is your special section of our website. Here you can find links to special web pages, our Library page, student activities and other fun and safe places where you can learn.
If you have any questions about the internet, your computer or any student activities you see here, ask your teacher.


text:
Recovered from
Please read this article in its fullest if you can and get it out to as many folks as you can. Also, please support its writer, John Kaminski, who is not only prolific but enlightening. What I like about him is that he is a great patriot, supporter of the works of other great patriots who have given theirs lives for the salvation of America (i.e. Eustace Mullins) and is, indeed, a true, sincere truth seeker who is waking up minds across this nation. SUPPORT HIS WORK TODAY!
Insight into destructive forces
determining the way we think
Homosexuals are not normal human beings in the same way that Jews are not normal citizens of any country in which they reside.
Public acceptance of homosexuality has been used by the Jewish puppetmasters to destabilize societies they are plundering.
All societies coalesce on the basis of protection of one's own children and property. Homosexuals and Jews sabotage this life-sustaining coalescence as they are motivated by their own pathological and physiologically deviant propensities.
The original, official acceptance of homosexuality in contemporary society occurred in 1973 after three-year long jihad of outrageous public insults to American psychiatrists by an ad hoc army of gay activists.
To get the aggressive homosexuals to stop harassing them, the American Psychiatric Association canvassed its 10,000 members and by a vote declared that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-II(DSM-II) would no longer classify homosexuality as a pathology. Instead, it would be called an alternative lifestyle.
No medical evidence whatsoever figured in this decision.
Coming on the heels of ten turbulent years of the totally Jewish Women's Liberation Movement, which exacerbated the deterioration of the American nuclear family, this gay pronouncement further loosened what religious types might call the bounds of decency, and boldly pushed homosexuality into the public limelight as something that deserved our tolerance and compassion.
On an interpersonal level, this attitude is desirable, because love and understanding are the most important things in life.
But what are we trying to understand? A physiological and psychological perversion. It is not an alternative lifestyle, it is the physiological consequence of testosterone deficiency during early pregnancy that produces effeminate males. <http://news.softpedia.com/news/Low-In-Utero-Testosterone-Levels-Determine-Homosexual-Behavior-in-Males-52005.shtml>
The real question is why those effeminate males produce such a flamboyantly depraved culture, and the simple answer is that is because homosexuality is depraved, unnatural and irresponsible to the highest degree.
It is probably the most potent weapon in the arsenal of the Jewish destabilization template, which has now destroyed most of the countries it has touched (and that's all of them).
On a sociological level, the attempt to pretend homosexuals are normal has resulted in just what homosexual behavior always produces:
• Unwanted sexual attacks on children and adults.
• Accelerated deterioration of the nuclear family.
• Skewing of discussions about anything because of having to recognize the gay perspective (which is strikingly like the Jewish perspective), and . .
• Utter unreliability and untrustworthiness in any institution, organization, or business that employs gays, whose behavior, either in concealment or extravagant flaunting of their chosen attitude, always destabilizes any relationship with any member of the heterosexual majority.
The answer you get when you protest these things is always "we must tolerate others who are different."
The response to that should always be "I have no wish to recognize an obvious illness, a sickening deviation from normal behavior, as normal, because (1) it disgusts me, and (2) it is extraordinarily unhealthy and destructive behavior."
Thus does a small percentage of psychological and physiological aberrants force the vast majority of ordinary heterosexuals to tolerate something that disgusts them, verifying Nietzsche's observation that the Jewish philosophy promotes disease and depravity as virtues, something we observe in today's slanted media almost every day.
How this whole pro-gay agenda has metastasized into the sewer of destructive social engineering now dominating mainstream society — with transgender sex advocates prominent on our Supreme Court and closet homosexuals selected as U.S. presidents, senators, judges and generals so they can be more effectively controlled by their beastmasters at suburban East Coast synagogues — is the focus of our story tonight.
You must know by now that for a decade or more, poison Jewish rules from the American Federation of Teachers have brought condoms into elementary schools and homosexual advocates talking to first graders about how great queer folk really are.
The heterosexuals of America have cringed in horror at this blatant disregard and destruction of most people's moral values, as well as the minds of children who are forced to receive these perverted messages.
Since people's first sexual experience almost always becomes a sexual preference throughout life, millions of healthy lives have been ruined by inserting this information into the mind of child too young to grasp its implications, or molesting him or her at any age.
The conflict and chaos, both inner and outer, that results from this profound psychological intrusion illustrates a classic example of Frederic Bastiat's concept of having to choose between morality and the law.
Parents have lost their right to teach their children about life, because our anti-human government has declared we must be nice to homosexuals, and accept their warped behavior no matter how much it makes us want to hurl. Or no matter how many children it hurts.
The American people have pretty much gone along with this twisted policy, and reaped the noxious consequences of it, principally the destruction of the American family, which had already suffered greatly as a result of the Women's Liberation Movement.
Because we kept silent, these attacks on our natural rights as human beings have increased in both number and profundity. The protestations of religious types were drowned out by a combination of preachers getting busted with hookers of both genders, or Jewish-generated liberal Protestant denominations ordaining gay priests into their roles as societal saboteurs.
What got the big headlines was the Catholic priests with their hands down boys' pants, although the Jews milked that for all it was worth (almost as much as the Holocaust reparations scams, but that's another story). The aspect of this story never told is the covert effort to get gay Jews into Catholic seminaries.
These laws demanding we accept sexual aberrations as normal, based on false data that have prostituted our children and profaned our lives, are nothing we ever wanted or approved; they are the degenerate plan of master race advocates to morph us into passive automatons, barely conscious, responding only to the commands of our supervisors.
As Freud's master manipulations gave us a society ruled by pill pushing Jewish dissemblers forcing us to eat the feces of their own nihilistic projections, so Jewish controlled Washington has dispensed an endless array of drugs, weapons and mental constrictions on a populace that mostly has never cared about who is taking how much off the top as long as they have their sedatives and distractions secure and nearby.
Mental constructions, media creations, Rumsfeldian productions that allege some terrible thing about someone else, mention that it is our goal to protect these people, then kill large numbers of them, and the American people, at least through what the media tell us, cheer this behavior. If this is you, please step in front of a speeding bus now.
Tyrants never give up their power voluntarily. It's up to those who resist to figure out the components of the tyranny, and dismantle them.
The born gay hoax
Prior to December 14, 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) considered same-sex attraction a disorder. The disorder was listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-II (DSM-II) under the label, "Homosexuality." Psychiatry's authoritative voice influenced public opinion, which at the time was negative toward both sodomy and the types of people who engaged in such acts. Although public sexual activity in parks and public restrooms contributed to societies negative views, "scientific opinion" was crucial in the public attitude.
In an effort to remove "Homosexuality" from the DSM pro-sodomy activists began a program of intimidation aimed at the American Psychiatric Association circa 1970. Activist Franklin Kameny states the movement's objective clearly, "I feel that the entire homophile movement…is going to stand or fall upon the question of whether or not homosexuality is a sickness, and upon our taking a firm stand on it…"[1] Franklin Kameny led the Washington D.C. chapter of the Mattachine Society during the 1960's. In the tradition of Magnus Hirschfield and Alfred Kinsey, Kameny viewed one's attraction to a specific gender as fluid, and viewed sodomy as morally equivalent to natural sexuality. Led by radicals like Franklin Kameny, pro-sodomy activists attacked psychiatrists across America, as Newsweek describes:
"But even more than the government, it is the psychiatrists who have experienced the full rage of the homosexual activists. Over the past two years, gay-lib organizations have repeatedly disrupted medical meetings, and three months ago—in the movements most aggressive demonstration so far—a group of 30 militants broke into a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Washington, where they turned the staid proceedings into near chaos for twenty minutes. 'We are here to denounce your authority to call us sick or mentally disordered,' shouted the group's leader, Dr. Franklin Kameny, while the 2,000 shocked psychiatrists looked on in disbelief. 'For us, as homosexuals, your profession is the enemy incarnate. We demand that psychiatrists treat us as human beings, not as patients to be cured!'"[2]
Ironically, at the very moment Franklin Kameny was claiming that sodomy was healthy, safe, and natural a deadly virus was silently passing through communities of men all over the nation. Only a decade later, thousands of men would be dead or dying of AIDS.
Homosexual Activists Intimidate American Psychiatric Association into Removing Homosexuality from List of Disorders
Dishonesty and intimidation had won the day for the same-gender sex movement, and when activists publicly claim that this vote was a scientific decision; they hide three years of deceit and intimidation.
It's very interesting that during the past four decades mainstream media have shined a bright light on the heterosexual trysts of famous politicians and celebrities, from Monica Lewinsky to John Edwards. But the homosexual entanglements of presidents draw nary a raised eyebrow as they are kept secret by media moguls who only reveal secrets that suit them.
Could be that most of the Jewish media moguls, like a significant number of famous politicians, are really closet homos.
In addition to his famous gay bathhouse membership with "friend" and "adviser" and now Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama has a string of dead friends (in addition to Larry Sinclair, who also was recently murdered) all alleged to be his sexual partners in his younger days.<http://politicalvelcraft.org/2011/11/03/breaking-mother-of-murdered-obamas-gay-partner-speaks-up-1-of-the-3-homosexual-members-of-obamas-trinity-church-murdered/
The gay proclivities of former President George W. Bush have been well documented if totally suppressed by the mainstream, but his famous overnight visits from body building homosexual ex-Marine Jeff Gannon testify to his preference. <http://www.newsfollowup.com/ledeen_8.htm#gannon><http://www.newsfollowup.com/ledeen_8.htm#Abramoff>
Even recently in the news was former president Richard Nixon's allegedly gay relationship with Miami raconteur Bebe Rebozo back in the 1960s and '70s. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078822/Did-Nixon-gay-affair-Mafia-fixer-Forget-Watergate-A-new-book-claims-Americas-corrupt-President-hid-far-personal-scandal-.html#ixzz1hheLH5or>
Then throw in the secret Skull & Bones initiation at Yale that compromises initiates with filmed homo behavior as a blackmail tool that guarantees their sticking with the program of the predators who are plundering the world. <http://mindprod.com/politics/bushbooksskullandbones.html>
Combine all these things with the Israeli worldwide sex slavery ring, stealing white girls from impoverished Slavic countries and putting them in brothels around the world; the demonic Talmudic suggestions that it is OK to have sex with children; and the societal push over the course of my lifetime to saturate the world's media with sexual images in order to sell things, and you have a vast substrate of sexual perversion that undermines societies everywhere in the world.
The fabled Jewish fact manipulator Henry Makow, so popular on the false opposition websites for his ability to claim that good Jews are forever being victimized by bad Jews, recently postulated the disinfo theorem that "all pornography is gay", following the policy of the Sanhedrin and the Protocols of Zion to destabilize the heterosexual population.
As usual, Makow, best known for his insistence that the Balfour Declaration that started World War I was a Christian idea and plot, deliberately got it backwards. The real lesson is this. All homosexuality is pornography. And all pornography — this is a well known fact — is Jewish.
This will tell you why the behavior of homosexuals and Jews is so similar.
Which leads us to the the real point, and a solution to the problem — because it is a problem, and a big one — of homosexuality in the world.
It is not homosexuality that is the real problem; it is the sex addiction. Basing a monogamous heterosexual relationship on sex is well known to be a failed emotional strategy that inevitably leads to disillusionment and/or disaster. Yet it is this chimera that all homosexual relationships are based upon — guaranteeing either failure or hypocrisy.
So-called individual freedom advocates down through time have all castigated the repressive dictatorship all religions have insisted upon regarding sexual matters. But what too few residents of this planet have ever understood is that this so-called tyranny in the regulation of sexual relationship by the church was essential to the creation of relatively stable societies.
And we see clearly today that the abandonment of these principles has led to a miscegenative nightmare in a society generally considered to be disintegrating on all levels at this time.
Thus, the real problem is not males who like males, or females who like females, but people who use sex as a drug instead of a sacrament, people for whom sex is an escape from their chosen daily torment rather than a sublime bonding with your best friend, and bridge to the universal vibe that watches out for our welfare every second we know it's there.
The one thing I hope you remember from this story is that homosexuality gained its mainstream approval on the basis of nasty public pressure from an insistent group of flaming faggots, without a shred of medical evidence to back up their claims.
Now we have a White House full of homosexual "czars" ready to wreak their Jewish-taught pathological vengeance on innocent people who have done them no harm. Since first sexual experiences tend to remain the preference for life, how many otherwise healthy lives (because homosexuality is simply not healthy for anyone) have been ruined — with our government's enthusiastic approval?
Did you ever notice that the one significant word that does not appear in the Talmud is love?
Personally, sex without love is something I'd rather not have. But society, pretty much run completely by Jewish pornographers, has taught generations of humans that getting off is more important than getting home.
Beyond the gay problem is a larger dilemma, one the Jews have exploited to destabilize societies everywhere. This is the real gay plague, and it's not limited to homosexuals.
Read the lyrics so you can better understand and remember what the real problem is.
I pulled up behind a Cadillac;
We were waiting for the light;
And I took a look at his license plate-
It said, "Just Ice."
Is justice just ice?
Governed by greed and lust?
Just the strong doing what they can
And the weak suffering what they must?
And the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
And sex kills ...
Sex kills ...
Doctors' pills give you brand new ills
And the bills bury you like an avalanche
And lawyers haven't been this popular
Since Robespierre slaughtered half of France!
And Indian chiefs with their old beliefs know
The balance is undone-crazy ions-
You can feel it out in traffic;
Everyone hates everyone!
And the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
And sex kills ...
Sex kills ...
All these jackoffs at the offs at the office
The rapist in the pool
Oh and the tragedies in the nurseries-
Little kids packin' guns to school
The ulcerated ozone
These tumors of the skin-
This hostile sun beating down on
This massive mess we're in!
And the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
And sex kills ...
Sex kills ...
Sex kills ...
Sex kills ...
Who would have guessed, so very long ago, that sex, drugs and rock 'n roll would be a key part of the formula for our permanent sleep?
John Kaminski is a writer who lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida, constantly trying to figure out why we are destroying ourselves, and pinpointing a corrupt belief system as the engine of our demise. Solely dependent on contributions from readers, please support his work by mail: 250 N. McCall Rd. #2, Englewood FL 34223 USA. http://johnkaminski.info/


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The FTD® Faithful Friend™ Standing Spray
S5302"A collection of bold blue flowers shares a tribute that words cannot express. Designed with lilies, roses, delphinium and snapdragons our Faithful Friend™ Standing Spray is a grand gesture to express kindness and solace to a loved one while they are remembering the life they cherished so much. - Details: o Good spray is approximately 34""H x 23""W o Better spray is approximately 36""H x 22""W o Best Spray is approximately 38""H x 24""W"
- For U.S. and Canada deliveries only
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All items featured on this site represent the types of arrangements we offer and may vary depending upon availability in certain regions. Substitution Policy


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[Armin Tamzarian's] local library recently started lending eBooks via the OverDrive Media Console system. He checked out a couple of books, which got him thinking about how the copy protection scheme was implemented. He wondered what recourse users had if they wanted to view a book they have already checked out on a different, or unsupported piece of hardware.
His research centers around Adobe's ADEPT digital rights management scheme, which is used to protect the books offered on loan by OverDrive. The topic is broken down into three parts, starting with an introduction to the EPUB file structure, the OverDrive Media Console, as well as the aforementioned ADEPT DRM scheme.
The second part takes a close look at the OverDrive Media Console itself, where he uses the ineptkey and ineptepub utilities written by [I♥CABBAGES] to pull the RSA cipher keys from the EPUB data he uncovered. When he then tries to strip the ADEPT DRM layer from his books however, he discovers that OverDrive is using a non-compliant version of the ADEPT standard, which renders existing tools useless.
The final part of [Armin's] discussion digs even deeper into the OverDrive Console's inner workings, where he finds that the OverDrive Media Console stores quite a bit of information in an SQLite database. After a bit of digging, he finds all the data he needs to strip the DRM from his books. [Armin] also took the time to wrap all of his findings up into a neat little tool called OMCStrip, which as you may have guessed, strips the DRM from ADEPT-protected eBooks with ease.


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The wonderful thing about technology is that it is constantly changing and growing. Today, you have plenty of options when it comes to selecting a security system for your property. When you find it is time for a new CCTV security system or another setup, we are here to help at Endless Communications, Inc. All you have to do is get in touch with us and ask about your options for a camera security networking system in Palm Springs that matches your needs.
Know Your Options
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Contact us for help with your camera security networking system in Palm Springs. Endless Communications, Inc., can be reached at (949) 390-5870.


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San Francisco Chronicle architecture columnist John King writes today of an ambitious state planning project known as Vision California. The project is intended to provide a holistic, statewide model of growth scenarios, with an emphasis on how high speed rail will change the state's growth and land use patterns. It is co-funded by the California High Speed Rail Authority. As King explains:
The official action is modest, a $2.5 million contract to devise a set of detailed growth scenarios for California, from classic suburban sprawl to compact development focused on older cities. The goal is to produce a single "preferred scenario" - one that conceivably could be used to prod local governments to accept or reject new construction.
This sort of top-down planning would alter politics in California, where cities and counties for decades have deflected any initiatives that might crimp their autonomy. The difference now: legislative efforts to reduce the state's carbon emission levels, and voter support of a high-speed rail system that could put now-distant portions of the Central Valley within commuting distance of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Proponents say there's no way to make wise long-term decisions without data to gauge the impact of different patterns of growth when it comes to matters such as energy or water use.
This is a long-overdue and much-needed effort. High speed rail in particular is going to reshape California's urban geography, and will produce significant shifts in population movement and growth sites. It makes perfect sense to evaluate this on a statewide basis - how would high speed trains produce growth in Fresno? What kind of growth might happen? And how would that affect land use in the older coastal metropolitan areas? How would that impact water and energy usage?
It is very good to hear that this effort is being undertake and that the CHSRA is playing a role. Given California's numerous and converging crises, from water to environment to economy to energy usage, we need to start considering statewide planning to solve those crises without one region's solutions undermining those of another region.
As King explains, this isn't the first time such an effort has been tried. Governor Jerry Brown initiated such a study in the late 1970s, around the time he promoted a high speed train for California:
For instance: If townhouses and bungalows are built instead of large single-family homes, how much agricultural land will be saved? If new housing is placed near existing jobs and shopping, rather than in distant subdivisions, what will be the effect on a household's transportation expenses?
"By showing people the results of different futures, you create a different political climate," Peter Calthorpe said. A founder of the influential Congress for the New Urbanism, Calthorpe was working for the Office of Planning and Research in 1978 when then-Gov. Jerry Brown released "Urban Strategies for California," the last serious statewide planning push...
Despite Calthorpe's optimism that things will be different this time, there's another scenario: Things stay pretty much the same.
After all, the sense of looming crisis is nothing new; "Urban Strategies" decried how sprawl chews up "air, water and other natural resources," but the proposals never translated into a formal plan.
It's worth noting that Governor Brown's late '70s efforts didn't just die. They were killed. As I've argued before, the 1978 tax revolt was driven in part by a desire to preserve 20th century suburban sprawl from a perceived attack by Governor Brown. Although Brown recognized the need for a denser California, he ran into a massive amount of opposition from the beneficiaries of the 1950s and 1960s model of land use, opposition that in 1978 wrote itself into the state constitution. Ever since, what I have described as a homeowner aristocracy - a specific group of people who were able to buy homes in the last few decades of the 20th century and who seek to preserve their property values and obsolete concepts of the urban landscape at the expense of everyone else - have fought every effort to produce a smarter, more sustainable strategy for economic growth and land use. Their successful determination to preserve the late 20th century model has left California economically weak, dependent on overuse of water, and vulnerable to soaring oil prices. Their refusal to embrace new solutions, which won't actually cause them much if any personal or economic harm, is a major impediment to proper planning for California's future.
Vision California is not just a useful exercise to help build a more prosperous and sustainable 21st century state. It's a way to ensure that high speed rail does not get used to promote sprawl. Many anti-HSR conspiracy theorists claim, against the evidence, that the CHSRA is nothing more than a vehicle for developers to pave over the Central Valley. They should then be the biggest champions of the Vision California project:
The project has three phases and will continue for about 18 months.
The first phase includes the formation of a working group to set parameters and decide how far into the future the projections should go. Data would be compiled and measurement standards defined.
Phase two would develop a base-case scenario that extends past trends forward - and alternative scenarios that give greater emphasis to mass transit and higher-density development patterns. The scenarios would be tested on "targeted groups of key stakeholders."
The final phase would follow the release of the alternative scenarios with a "preferred vision" - coupled with an outreach campaign to show how the chosen path "can most effectively impact the development of state, regional, and local policies aimed at meeting state climate change and other key goals."
In other words, limiting sprawl and promoting urban density, transit-oriented development, and mass transit connectivity are explicit goals of this planning process, something CHSRA is signaling it is willing to abide by once it is in place.
This is a welcome development, and I wish the Vision California project well. Let's hope it is matched with further statewide legislation in the vein of AB 32 and SB 375 to complement local efforts to change the longstanding local government preference for sprawl. HSR is a major tool in the effort to limit sprawl, but as we've always said, that has to be matched with regulatory changes in land use policy. Vision California is a necessary step in that direction.


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Conveniently launch a sub-process providing its stdin and collecting its stdout
Usage: (sh & args)
Passes the given strings to Runtime.exec() to launch a sub-process. Options are :in may be given followed by any legal input source for clojure.java.io/copy, e.g. InputStream, Reader, File, byte[], or String, to be fed to the sub-process's stdin. :in-enc option may be given followed by a String, used as a character encoding name (for example "UTF-8" or "ISO-8859-1") to convert the input string specified by the :in option to the sub-process's stdin. Defaults to UTF-8. If the :in option provides a byte array, then the bytes are passed unencoded, and this option is ignored. :out-enc option may be given followed by :bytes or a String. If a String is given, it will be used as a character encoding name (for example "UTF-8" or "ISO-8859-1") to convert the sub-process's stdout to a String which is returned. If :bytes is given, the sub-process's stdout will be stored in a byte array and returned. Defaults to UTF-8. :env override the process env with a map (or the underlying Java String[] if you are a masochist). :dir override the process dir with a String or java.io.File. You can bind :env or :dir for multiple operations using with-sh-env and with-sh-dir. sh returns a map of :exit => sub-process's exit code :out => sub-process's stdout (as byte[] or String) :err => sub-process's stderr (String via platform default encoding)Added in Clojure version 1.2
Usage: (with-sh-dir dir & forms)
Sets the directory for use with sh, see sh for details.Added in Clojure version 1.2
Usage: (with-sh-env env & forms)
Sets the environment for use with sh, see sh for details.Added in Clojure version 1.2


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Populating the World with Inspiring Leaders- Nancy MacKay
April 23, 2019
Hosted by David Wallach
[Download MP3] [itunes] [Bookmark Episode]
Guest Information
Episode Description
With a dream to populate the world with inspiring leaders our guest, Dr. Nancy Mackay founded MacKay CEO Forums in 2005. With members who are forward-thinking and action-oriented CEOs, Executives, and Business Owners, from across all industries, who are being challenged to take action to deal with their toughest issues and challenges and become inspiring leaders through high accountability culture. Join our conversation with Nancy, a CEO coach, dynamic keynote speaker, published author and a former university professor, sharing her story, experience, and skills that helped her in her incredible journey.
Taking Care of Business
Archives Available on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel
The goal of Taking Care of Business is to provide you with a deeper understanding of steps that you can take to develop personal and professional success. David introduces leaders from different industries, their backgrounds, the hurdles they have faced throughout and how they overcame those challenges to create the success they cherish today. You'll be encouraged to find one thing that you are passionate about and pursue it. Instead of thinking what can go wrong in the face of adversity, David teaches you that instead of allowing that to block your success, you can find ways to approach the test with confidence and overcome fear. David's guests also provide recommendations to fulfill goals set by individuals looking for a career change, recent graduates and students.
David Wallach
David made a geographical and career move at the age of 40, with a wife and three children. David adapted to two different cultures and countries, Canada and Israel. David's wife, Zohar, is becoming a well-known artist, David's one son is living in Los Angeles pursuing his career, David's second son teaches English in Japan, and David's daughter is attending her second year at one of Canada's top business schools, the University of Western Ontario. David's success in supporting his family comes with a timeline of personal and professional accomplishments.
From 1988 to 1994 David was the Chairman and General Manager of the Maccabi Haifa Basketball Club as a volunteer when the team was on the verge of bankruptcy. David left the team with zero debt and a strong foundation for the team's future. In 2000, David joined Barclay Street Real Estate Ltd. He became the sole owner in 2009. In 2014 David launched Triumph Real Estate Fund and in 2015 David was the recipient of the Calgary Leaders of the Future Award by Business in Calgary Magazine.
David's hard work has also been recognized when Barclay Street Real Estate was awarded the Consumer Choice Award for Commercial Real Estate on two occasions. David has also become a CCIM Member, a Co-chair of the Calgary Economic Development Real Estate Committee and board member of TCN Worldwide Real Estate Services.


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Statement by Ambassador Miguel Berger, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations, at the presentation of the exhibition "For a Mine-Free" World" , 5. April 2013
-- Translation of advance text --
Under-Secretary-General Ladsous, Excellencies, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
20 years ago, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines was kicked off. As we celebrate the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action today, it is worthwhile to commemorate the ICBL's success story which paved the way for two Conventions of global importance.
While many of us tend to be frustrated by a series of setbacks in the field of disarmament, the conventions on anti-personnel mines (Ottawa Convention, 1997) and cluster munitions (Oslo Convention, 2008) have proved that progress in this area is possible. In both cases, the strong determination of nations to act was a major factor. And this week, with the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty, another significant decision in the area of arms control was made. You will certainly agree with me, however, that these agreements would not have seen the light of day, if it were not for the persevering commitment of civil society and its representatives.
With 160 States Parties, today the Ottawa Convention is closer than ever to universality. During the last 20 years, the number of victims has fallen to a quarter. But every victim is a victim too many.
The German Government has from the very beginning been very active in working to see these milestones of international humanitarian law drafted, implemented and universalized. We will not lessen our efforts in pursuit of a worldwide ban on anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions.
The exhibition on 20 years of the ICBL (Int. Campaign to ban landmines) is intended as a call to work towards this goal. Created by the Federal Foreign Office in collaboration with NGOs (Handicap International, ICBL, Medico International and SODI, Int. Solidarity Aid) and UNMAS, it was put on display in the Foreign Office in Berlin and was shown at the UN in Geneva in the Palais des Nations early 2013.
Harrowing images bear witness to the inhumanity, brutality and suffering so many innocent people have had to endure. Nobody who sees these images can be unmoved. Although we can't undo the suffering inflicted on innocent people by landmines and cluster munitions by imposing a ban, we can help to prevent future human suffering, and we can help the victims.
The German Government has assisted more than 40 countries around the world with mine and ordnance clearance, mine awareness and victim assistance - UNMAS being a main partner. Since 2011, we've again increased funding for this by about 30 per cent to around 20 million euros.
To give only a few concrete examples: We support humanitarian demining and risk awareness with such partners as Handicap International in Libya. Currently, in Mali we help develop Malian units of army engineers and ordnance disposal specialists. Moreover, we provide funds for risk-awareness training of Syrians in refugee camps.
I am grateful to the organizers, the curator Markus Haake and the photographers of this exhibition. The exhibits show not only human suffering, but also the tireless dedication of minesweepers, volunteers and humanitarian organizations working to lessen that suffering. In this regard, let me thank Handicap International and Elizabeth MacNairn, Executive Director of HI USA, who will speak for all the organisations, their personnel and the many volunteers all over the world.
Finally, I would like to extend my special gratitude to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, USG Hervé Ladsous and UNMAS for the excellent cooperation and the opportunity to exhibit this collection for two months in the lobby hall of the General Assembly Hall.
I hope that your wander round the exhibition will give you pause for thought.


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July, 2018 – Dayco, a leading engine products and drive systems supplier for the automotive, industrial and aftermarket industries, continues to expand the company's presence and local customer support across South East Asia.
This expansion of Dayco product and customer service support in South East Asia aligns with the significant automotive aftermarket growth taking place throughout the region.
Following the establishment of a new Dayco South East Asian sales office in Singapore and the appointment of Yong Kee Ng as the region's Business Development Manager in 2017, Dayco also opens a new warehouse in the Penjuru region of the country this year.
The new warehouse ensures that automotive repairers throughout South East Asia have prompt access to the vast aftermarket range of Dayco V-belts, Poly V-belts, timing belts, tensioners and pulleys for both passenger and commercial vehicles.
Dayco also announces the appointment of Ms. Jeannette Loh who now heads the local customer service operation to best support Dayco's South East Asian customers. Ms. Loh brings more than two decades of customer service support experience across several industries to Dayco South East Asia.
"Dayco's South East Asian presence and localised customer service continues to grow in line with our commitment to service the rapid growth of the automotive aftermarket industry throughout the region," stated Dayco Vice President, Asia Pacific Aftermarket, Arnold Mouw.
"Our new localised warehousing coupled with our experienced local management and customer service appointments ensure that Dayco is responding to the increasing demands of automotive repairers and re-sellers throughout the region," Mr. Mouw added.
With locations worldwide, Dayco is a global leader in the research, design, manufacturing and distribution of essential engine products, drive systems and services and has been for more than a century.
The Dayco South East Asia regional head office is located at 14, Ang Mo Kio Street 63, Singapore and can be reached for customer service enquiries by calling (+65) 64 836 303.
About Dayco
Dayco is a global leader in the research, design, manufacturing and distribution of essential engine products, drive systems and services for automobiles, trucks, construction, agriculture and industry.
Dayco's contributions are integral to how people get from place to place, goods are transported, food is harvested, and infrastructure is built. The company operates according to long-held values — keeping promises, delivering on time all the time, and an intense commitment to service no matter what the obstacles. For more than a century, Dayco has overcome challenges, emerging stronger and smarter at every turn.
Dayco improves how the world moves by creating products, systems and relationships that endure.
Move Forward. Always. ™


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Deep-cleansing clay formula purifies oily skin. Water-soluble Kaolin and Green clays combine with purifying extracts of Sambucus, Ivy and Lemon to remove excess oils and refine the skin's texture. Calming Cucumber and Sage soothe, while refreshing Menthol revitalizes even the most tired skin.
- Provides deep-cleansing for oily, congested skin.
- Unique clay formula removes debris and absorbs excess oils.
- Soothing Menthol has a cooling sensation on skin.
how to use
Following the application of PreCleanse, apply to dampened face and throat, massaging with damp fingers in light, upward strokes. Concentrate on any areas of congestion and impurities. Rinse with warm water. Follow with Multi-Active Toner and prescribed Dermalogica Moisturizer.
quick tip
In a pinch? This cleanser doubles as a refreshing face masque.
Water/Aqua/Eau, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Kaolin, Disodium Cocoamphodipropionate, Butylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Pentylene Glycol, Sorbitan Oleate, Illite, Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract, Sodium Magnesium Silicate, Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Sambucus Nigra Flower Extract, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Parietaria Officinalis Extract, Nasturtium Officinale Flower/Leaf Extract, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Hedera Helix (Ivy) Leaf/Root Extract, Saponaria Officinalis Leaf/ Root Extract, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Sorbitan Trioleate, Menthol, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).
Dermalogica is dedicated to maintaining the accuracy of the ingredient lists on this website. However, because ingredients are subject to change, we cannot guarantee that these lists are complete, up-to-date and/or error-free. For an accurate listing of ingredients in each product, please refer to your product packaging.


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DNA from mummies found at a site once known for its cult to the Egyptian god of the afterlife is unwrapping intriguing insight into the people of ancient Egypt, including a surprise discovery that they had scant genetic ties to sub-Saharan Africa.
Scientists on Tuesday said they examined genome data from 90 mummies from the Abusir el-Malek archaeological site, located about 115 km south of Cairo, in the most sophisticated genetic study of ancient Egyptians ever conducted.
The DNA was extracted from the teeth and bones of mummies from a vast burial ground associated with the green-skinned god Osiris. The oldest were from about 1388 BC during the New Kingdom, a high point in ancient Egyptian influence and culture. The most recent were from about 426 AD, centuries after Egypt had become a Roman Empire province.
"There has been much discussion about the genetic ancestry of ancient Egyptians," said archeogeneticist Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, who led the study published in the journal Nature Communications.
"Are modern Egyptians direct descendants of ancient Egyptians? Was there genetic continuity in Egypt through time? Did foreign invaders change the genetic makeup: for example, did Egyptians become more 'European' after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt?" Krause added. "Ancient DNA can address those questions."
The genomes showed that, unlike modern Egyptians, ancient Egyptians had little to no genetic kinship with sub-Saharan populations, some of which like ancient Ethiopia were known to have had significant interactions with Egypt.
The closest genetic ties were to the peoples of the ancient Near East, spanning parts of Iraq and Turkey as well as Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Egypt, located in North Africa at a crossroads of continents in the ancient Mediterranean world, for millennia boasted one of the most advanced civilizations in antiquity, known for military might, wondrous architecture including massive pyramids and imposing temples, art, hieroglyphs and a pantheon of deities.
Mummification was used to preserve the bodies of the dead for the afterlife. The mummies in the study were of middle-class people, not royalty.
The researchers found genetic continuity spanning the New Kingdom and Roman times, with the amount of sub-Saharan ancestry increasing substantially about 700 years ago, for unclear reasons.
"There was no detectable change for those 1,800 years of Egyptian history," Krause said. "The big change happened between then and now."
Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler


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What Not To Say To Women
Things You Should Never, Ever Say On Dates
This actually happened to me on a date last week.
Me: "This is a nice bar, I didn't even know it existed."
Him: "Ah, well, I used to come here with my ex. We had our first date here."
Me: "……."
Later on.
Him: "I love New York! Becca and I went for our first anniversary, actually."
And later still.
"I hated Anchorman. So not funny."
Enough. Not only are you clearly still obsessed with your ex-girlfriend (who, I'm sure, couldn't wait to escape your clutches) but you have terrible taste in films. Goodbye.
I don't know how make this clearer: Do not gush/ discuss/ mention your ex-girlfriend on a date. Ever. Your romantic, blissful holidays together, dates to the same bar you'd take her to, detailing why you broke up without prompting — all awful. Talking about your blissful past relationships makes us paranoid. It tells us that you're not over her yet, that we're wasting our time and will never live up to her. Remember that TV advert where a couple's sat on a sofa and she's wearing her ex-boyfriend's oversized jumper? And he smirks; 'Ha. Your ex must've been massive." And she replies with a raised eyebrow and a faraway look in her eye: "Mmmm, he was." It's the male version of making us feel like that.
A quick ring around of my girlfriends threw up some other unacceptable one-liners. I hope you find this helpful.
"You're just not my type"
Whilst I'm normally an advocate of honesty, that doesn't mean you have to be quite so honest all the time. My friend Natalie was set up on a blind date by a married couple she knew. Their keenness to get her coupled-up, just like them, overlooked the fact that their choice of man was appalling. After arriving late and not apologising, he talked about his job for half an hour whilst Nat listened on politely, trying to sneak a word in. The boorish oaf then declared that he didn't usually 'go' for brunettes like her. Should she should be grateful for this? Even if you don't fancy your date, etiquette dictates that you keep opinions to yourself.
"Let's split the bill"
A modern girl may insist on going Dutch, but a gentleman always offers to foot the bill. And, for the first couple of dates, insists.
"You really shop at Primark?"
Pretentiousness gets you nowhere, chaps. Just this weekend a friend of mine unintentionally found herself caught in the firing line of a scathing bombardment of middle class snobbery. A fleeting comment about Primark was met with indignant criticism. "You don't shop there, do you?" he asked, genuinely mortified. "Um, well, now and again…" her voice trailed off. For the rest of the awkward date he made patronising quips about her style and shopping habits. In a word, Douchebag.
And, in the interests of equality, here are the three things you're allowed to be annoyed at her for saying...
"I'm on a diet"
With my girlfriends, I'm a calorie-counting obsessive, I admit. But such intimate analysis of a meal is wasted on men. I wouldn't blame you for finding this unacceptable.
"OMG, LOVE Twilight"
Again, only amongst girlfriends or pre-pubescent relatives is such a statement appropriate for a girl to say. This is legitimate cause for an on-the-spot dumping.
"Which one is Bradley Wiggins, again?"
A season ticket at Spurs isn't a mandatory girlfriend requirement. A basic grasp of current affairs, however, is.
Dating Rules
conversation tips
The Scarlett Letters
scarlett russell


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Explore our new rugged towable line, No Boundaries! Our focus is creating exceptionally lightweight, versatile travel trailers towable by both 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder tow vehicles. Perfect for any outdoor enthusiast, No Boundaries offers adaptable storage for kayaks, bikes, SUP's, surfboards, skis, and fishing equipment, while still maintaining a dry weight acceptable for a wide range of smaller tow vehicles in the 1500-3500 lb category.
No Boundaries, with industry-leading ground-clearance, larger diameter tires, and nimble suspension system, will allow you to explore and set up camp in places that would otherwise be inaccessible. Additionally, the upscale interior focuses on thoughtful, useful design with ample storage and an ergonomic and refreshing living space. Lengths range from 12' up to 25' and are attractively equipped with both familiar standard equipment as well as fresh features for a truly unforgettable adventure.
* Not all buyers will qualify. Contact us for details.
Whether you pick it up, we bring it to you, or meet in the middle, taking delivery of your new RV couldn't be easier.
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Cargo Capacity | 1,347 lbs | 610.99 kg |
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Overall Length | 21' 10" | 6.65 m |
Overall Width | 88" | 223.52 cm |
Black Water Tank | 30 gal | 113.56 l |
Fresh Water Tank | 30 gal | 113.56 l |
Gray Water Tank | 30 gal | 113.56 l |
Jeff and his team saved us thousands on our new travel trailer. We could have gone to an outlet 5 miles from us but chose to do a 300 mile round trip because they had plenty of trailers in stock and a price that couldn't be beat. This was our first trailer purchase. I can't say enough good things about the sales, finance, and service people. We were complete noobies and they walked us through the trailer features, hookup, and what to expect. Highly recommended.
Mike Herron, Thank you all for a great experience purchasing my new NO BO 19.2!!! From price to friendly service, I was so much more than satisfied. I made it home Sunday and the RV handled perfectly. I stayed overnight halfway and couldn't be happier with the comfort in both the bed and the heating system. I've attached a picture of the RV in its new home. Regards, Daniel J Curran Northfield, NH


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What are Accessibility Features?
Firefox is designed to meet the needs of the broadest population possible. Sometimes that is not enough. In the case of blind and visually impaired users, a conventional graphical interface with a touch screen is not usable. Assistive technologies such as screen readers exist to bridge that gap. They provide speech and audible feedback that represents the visual state of the application. They may also provide alternative interaction modes that make more sense for blind users. For example, a user could explore the visible items on a screen by moving their finger across the screen and have the screen reader tell them what is under their finger.
TalkBack Support
Firefox for Android supports the Android TalkBack feature, which allows visual impaired users to use synthesized speech output to browse the web. See How to use TalkBack support article for more info.
Accessible by Default
We believe that equal access requires Firefox for Android to be ready for any type of user once it is installed, with no extra setup steps or add-onsextensions. When Firefox for Android launches for the first time on a blind user's device, it should start talking and be responsive to the user's input.
Firefox for Android is the first Android Web browser that integrates tightly with Android's native accessibility framework and supports TalkBack, Android's screen reader. This provides a consistent feel with the rest of the device and the user's specific screen reader configuration.
Under The Hood
Our Android accessibility solution leverages the same powerful accessibility engine we use on the desktop. This means that it is fast, and leads the industry in support of standards such as WAI-ARIA and HTML5.
Quick Navigation
Web pages can be very big, complex, and contain a lot of content. When a screen reader user visits a large page, it can be tiring and time-consuming to step through every item on the page until they find what they are looking for. That is why we introduced Quick Navigation Keys. With the help of a physical keyboard or the Eyes-Free Keyboard, a user can press k repeatedly to step through all the hyperlinks on the page. Similar keys are available for headings, list items, various form fields and more.
This type of feature is familiar to desktop screen reader users. But the Android screen reader does not have this kind of functionality, so we decided to implement ourselves.
Trying It Out
Accessibility on Jelly Bean is really easy to set up and play with. Go to System settings ⇾ Accessibility ⇾ TalkBack, and enable it. Once TalkBack is enabled, move your finger across the screen, you will hear audio feedback and speech telling you what your finger is resting on. Close your eyes and try to find different apps on the home screen. Are you getting the feel for it? If you want to sequentially step through items, swipe your finger left or right quickly across the screen. If you want to activate an item (say, Firefox Beta?) double tap.
You already know everything you need to know about using Firefox with TalkBack. Launch it, explore the interface with your finger, swipe left and right, and double tab to activate items. This is a good opportunity to try out websites and applications you created and test to see how accessible they are. Could you manage with your eyes closed?
Here is a short video of Firefox Beta on a Nexus 7 working with TalkBack:
What we are most proud about in our accessibility story on Android is the invisibility of our solution. It integrates well, and it gets out of the way to allow blind users to enjoy the easy and fast mobile browsing experience that Firefox for Android provides.


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"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."
–The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
We've been reading The Chronicles of Narnia aloud for the past few weeks. First, we read The Magicians Nephew, and we just finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe today. Wow. So timely.
This thing is really happening. How did it get to be almost the end of August? This is really happening- and it's happening soon. I wish I could put into words the way I feel, the wild knot of emotions that run through my heart and mind all day these days.
As we're cleaning out our two rooms here in our temporary home in preparation for our final garage sale, I find myself almost unable to wrap my brain around the fact of what needs to go. This is it. We aren't storing anything but keepsakes. There's no back-up-plan storage unit filled with our stuff "just in case". It all has to go. All In.
A Bible study for moms is starting up at church in September, and I'll only be around for a couple of the sessions…then they'll continue to meet and I'll be gone.
Our Home School co-op will continue, plans are being made for the year and we won't be there.
At church camp this past weekend I was chatting with a missions friend about the massive intimidation of the Russian language and he said "Don't worry. Take your time. Think long-term; you've got years to learn it!" OMG. I guess I hadn't thought about it that way! 🙂 This isn't a crash course in Russian, this is life.
I'm so excited for what God has. I've never felt more alive or more filled with faith than I do right now. I've never known, like I know now that we are exactly, precisely in the palm of God's hand.
In some moments I don't worry at all. In some moments I feel giddy about what this new life will bring, fairly bursting with optimism, peace, hope, and joy in the journey. In other moments I feel afraid, overwhelmed, and a little like I know we have absolutely no idea what we are getting ourselves into.
So, you probably get the idea that the knot of emotions and thoughts is pretty impossible to untangle right now. But that's okay! It's messy, but it's okay. All God is asking of us is to say yes to Him, and to trust in His goodness.
Is this a safe move? Well, God didn't call us to safety. He called us to yes. I have no doubt that safe or not, it will be good. Very good.
Tonight, whatever you are facing, whatever 'yes' God is calling you to- trust in His goodness. All He is asking for is your yes. It might not feel safe. It might feel really uncomfortable. It might feel scary. You might not be able to predict the outcome. You might not be able to wrap your brain around the sacrifice, but I guarantee you also can't wrap your brain around the joy. I know I can't, but I'm already getting amazing glimpses! It is our joy, it is your joy to say yes to Him. Think about that day when all has been said and done and we stand before our King, our Love, our Friend. Will it matter if we were safe and comfy? Or will we take a deep breath after a life completely spent for Him and think "Whew! Now that was a wild ride!"
Say Yes. Give it all. Step out. He is good. He is worth it.


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Watch Metallica + Foo Fighters Cover Soundgarden + Audioslave
Last night (Jan. 16) was a night where genre differences were set aside as some of the world's most popular musicians gathered under one roof to salute the career of the legendary Chris Cornell. While the highlights were plentiful, two of the biggest moments came when Metallica and the Foo Fighters took the stage to honor the fallen musician.
It was a mix of originals and cover selections throughout the night. Metallica's four-song set (video below) was bookended with the Ultramega OK tracks "All Your Lies" and "Head Injury" with "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Master of Puppets" (featuring Jack Black) sandwiched in between.
As for the Foos, they had a bit of a curious set and leaned more toward the light-hearted side of things for such an emotional event. It didn't start off that way, though, opening with "No Attention" from Soundgarden's Down on the Upside before going into Devo's "Girl U Want" and back to Soundgarden for "Earache in My Eye," which itself is a cover of a Cheech and Chong skit. Dave Grohl and co. ended it on a feel-good note with the Foos smash hit "Everlong."
See footage of their full set below.
But what would a tribute show of such a high caliber be without some collaborations? There were plenty of those, too, and Foos and Metallica members reclaimed the stage together with Audioslave members Tom Morello and Brad Wilk. With Grohl handling vocals and Robert Trujillo on bass, they ran through "Show Me How to Live" from Audioslave's eponymous 2002 debut.
Watch the performance here:
Other guest performers throughout the night included Miley Cyrus, the Melvins, Ryan Adams, Geezer Butler, Josh Homme, Chris Stapletone, Brandi Carlile and a lot more.
20 Greatest Chris Cornell Lyrics