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Ice Palace Home Game
San Francisco has a set of cards all its own
I missed playing in a home game. I frequently travel the world covering poker tournaments and live for months at a time in Las Vegas, so I lack a conventional lifestyle that put me in one place for a significant amount of time. That all changed when I took a self-imposed sabbatical from poker reporting and moved to San Francisco. I quickly latched onto a home game and played every week for six months. When the local degenerates were feeling extra frisky, we played twice a week.
Venus hosted the game with her brother Skeletor. Venus lived in one of those quaint Victorians that are synonymous with San Francisco. The game was played in a back room framed by bay windows and a fireplace. At the height of its popularity, the game ran two tables (one NL and the other mixed games) for most of the night. Waiting-list players, sometimes 10 deep, eagerly waited in the kitchen sipping cocktails or on the back porch, which was a haven for smokers.
The game was known as the Ice Palace, mostly because of how cold it got in the apartment. No matter what time of day, it was always freezing. I wore a hoodie and every once in a while it was so cold that I needed a wool hat.
Although Venus played in the game, her main duty was acting as the Ice Palace's gracious host. She always stocked the kitchen with the finest California wines and made sure everyone had a beverage. Venus was also the de-facto floor person and handled all disputes in a fair manner. Halfway through the evening she'd order pizza from one of the local hippie joints, which often proved problematic.
"I need to stop ordering from them," Venus would lament every Monday night, "Those stoners take forever to deliver and always fuck up the order!"
Somehow I was tapped to handle music duties and made a couple of different mixes to appeal to the variety of eclectic tastes from everyone in the game — ranging from classic rock to '90s classic hip-hop, to '80s pop (Venus' favorite).
The regulars at the Ice Palace were a pastiche of San Francisco freaks. The Wolf was the main foil and always got top billing for the evening. He owned a bar in the nearby Marina area and brought along plenty of exotic beers from his establishment. His claim to fame was that as a struggling musician, he jammed with Van Morrison. He looked like one of Neil Young's roadies and quoted random lines of poetry on command.
The other regulars in the game included a British ex-pat software engineer, a former hedge-fund wizard, a marijuana farmer, a semi-famous drag queen (who always played in his normal clothes), a radiologist, an Iraq War vet, a Burning Man promoter, and a paralegal from one of the biggest litigation firms in San Francisco. The game also featured a slew of professionals from the restaurant and culinary industry. A couple of the regulars worked under a couple of the most renowned chefs in the world: Hubert Keller and Michael Mina.
The game was an interesting mix of amateurs with disposable income and restaurant workers/bartenders flush with cash from tips. It was an almost ideal situation with plenty of opportunity to fleece the few big whales in the group while taking advantage of newbie mistakes (mostly along the lines of bet sizing).
The Wolf was the action, which was saying a lot considering the game had a fair share of action players, who made a friendly $60 buy-in play like an insane 5-10 NL game. The stakes always started out small. The pots exponentially increased in size once the clock raced past midnight. By sunrise, the game had consolidated to one table with a couple of monster stacks dwarfing the miniscule stacks of downtrodden players desperately chasing their losses.
One of the most dangerous regulars at the Ice Palace was a 20-something waitress we nicknamed Chainsaw. She migrated to California from the rough and tumble streets of Detroit, something she had no problems letting you know if things got hairy.
"Listen, I'm from fucking the Big D," she once playfully threatened me, "I'll cut you if I have to, so don't fucking call me a hipster!"
Chainsaw wore funky genre-bending outfits to the game including a bright orange raincoat that she somehow pulled off as a dress. The deadly Chainsaw could be holding any two cards at any time. She was relentless and uber-aggressive. She showed zero fear at the table and sipped whiskey out of a shot glass. One of the largest pots I ever lost at the Ice Palace occurred against Chainsaw when my A-K lost to her pocket Kings. She totally outplayed me and I paid her off by shipping my entire stack, which was a couple hundred dollars. It was so bad that I had to take a walk around the block to stave off tilt.
My girlfriend was a regular in the game and although she's a savvy tournament player (she won the 2011 Ladies Event at the PCA, an event that Venus had also final tabled once before), I also respect her cash game prowess. Even though we tried to stay out of each others' way, she still bested me in a fair number of pots. I also avoided Skeletor, who was easily the strongest cash game player in the game. His moniker derived from his thin appearance. Just think of a skinny version of James Spader. Skeletor was a cash-game pro and carved out a successful career over the last several years. Once Black Friday hit, like most online grinders, he was forced to re-evaluate his life choices. He couldn't bring himself to flee San Francisco in order to relocate to another country, but he understood the severity of the situation and mulled a move to Mexico so he could continue to earn an income at the virtual cash tables.
To combat the effects of Black Friday, Skeletor and Venus drew up plans to open up their own illegal cardroom in the Tenderloin, a seedy part of San Francisco littered with homeless people and drug addicts. That dangerous, anarchistic area of the city was a far cry from the posh surroundings of Pacific Heights. We were mere blocks away from the most expensive houses in America, and frankly I'm surprised none of our snooty neighbors ratted us out. Believe me, on a few nights (as the night spilled into the morning) things got so loud that I was convinced an ornery sleep-deprived neighbor would drop a dime on us.
The gambling part didn't concern me as much. After all, it was a friendly home game and the SFPD had much larger matters to worry about. Even though it is San Francisco, a city where anything goes, especially marijuana, the blatant and wide open recreational drug use was a slight concern. One of the regulars was a local grower who often brought over samples of his products. Many of the players were "medicinal marijuana patients" (myself included), so the Ice Palace constantly reeked of pungent aromas and there was enough high-potent grass around to get everyone high backstage at a Grateful Dead concert.
Igor frequently brought a bottle of his prescription pain pills to the game and sold them throughout the night, gladly accepting chips as payment. Adderall was easy to score in the game and became essential fuel to keep the action going to noon the next day. The longest the game lasted? 27 hours. It began at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday and stopped at midnight the next day. In that game, I took a nap from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and played two sessions clocking in at nine and 12 hours.
With all of the booze and drugs, things often could get of control. Wasted people donking off chips. What more could I ask for? Besides, that edginess made the game more exciting and unpredictable. You never knew what was going to happen, like the time a newcomer shat on the bathroom floor. A friend of a friend was invited to the game for the first time. Apparently this guy was a lightweight and couldn't handle his share of wine and weed. As a result, he couldn't control his bodily functions and missed the toilet. Venus screeched in horror when she saw the giant turd sculpture on her bathroom floor. From that moment on, a new nickname stuck: The Mad Shitter.
However, the weirdest thing I ever saw was one regular who insisted on borrowing Venus' microwave for 90 seconds upon his arrival. His cocaine dealer often gave him a clumpy product and he needed a microwave to better dehydrate his favorite party favor. Like I said earlier, San Francisco is totally different universe with its own set of rules, especially when it comes to poker.


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NSMC named Best Hospital by U.S. News & World Report for
the third year in a row
Learn more
When Mckenzie Coleman was born last April, she had no idea that she was continuing a family tradition that goes back four generations. Mckenzie, like her mother before her, follows in a long line of Macombers born at NSMC Salem Hospital. The close relationship between the family and North Shore Medical Center dates back nearly 100 years (see sidebar on next page). In fact, the hospital's Macomber building was named after Harold Macomber, once a visionary leader and fundraiser at the medical center. Read more
Read all birthplace news and stories

subset: commoncrawl


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Fashion finds inspiration in some unlikely places, and right now, it's harking back to the retro style dresses worn by Elaine from Seinfeld in the 1990s. Elaine was fond of wearing flowery floor-length dresses, heavy leather shoes and socks, and jackets with large shoulder pads. It may have been a bit daggy looking at the time, but now it's cool.
As a recent New York Times article pointed out, this Fall is all about the Elaine look. It's a little shorter and flirtier, but it's Elaine nonetheless. Get yourself a girly mid-calf length floral dress and team it with some sturdy brown lace-up boots or leather dance shoes, and throw your hair up into a messy secretary bun, and you're all set. It's a modern prudish and bookish look that's feminine and flattering.
So, why the trend towards long 90s retro style dresses? There's a sense of female empowerment in dressing comfortably in loose clothing and wearing shoes that you can easily walk and also run in. Many women have "been there and done that" when it comes to 3-inch heels, fishnets, mini skirts and tank tops, and now want mod clothing that's both feminine and tough.
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Retro Style Dresses of Elaine from Seinfeld
3 comments:
OMG! Me too! I thought I was the only one out there!ReplyDelete
I've been raiding all the thrift stores before people catch on! (Wearing one now) My favorite is the big sunflower print ones. My mom still has a ton of her boho skirts too that I stole.
Jean material always makes great vintage fashion. Flower pattern with jean jacket is never failed I think.ReplyDelete
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Accreditation: Anthem College is accredited by ACICS, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools to award Diplomas and Degrees. ACICS is recognized as a national accrediting agency by the United States Department of Education and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Contact information is:
750 First Street NE, Suite 980
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 336-6780
Licensure & Approvals: Anthem College is approved and regulated by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Career Schools and Colleges. Contact information is:
101 East 15th Street
Austin, TX 78778-0001
(512) 936-3100
Approvals: Anthem College is also approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). Contact information is:
1200 E. Anderson Lane
Austin, TX 78752
(512) 427-6101


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Bobcat Company employees leave the Bismarck, N.D. plant at the 3 p.m. shift change on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009. Bobcat Co., which makes skid-steer loaders and light construction equipment, says it is cutting 195 jobs at its three North Dakota sites, most of them at its plant in Gwinner, southwest of Fargo. Besides the cuts in Gwinner, the company says it will cut 28 of the approximately 650 workers in Bismarck and 29 of its 185 workers in West Fargo, where it is based. (AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Tom Stromme)
Read the article: Bobcat to cut 195 jobs in ND due to slow sales
Read the article: Bobcat Co. to close Bismarck plant


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University of Kentucky Lexington, KY
Title: CCR3 biology and imaging applied to CNV in AMD Non-Technical Title: A New Molecular Target for Diagnosing the Wet Form of AMD
Duration: April 1, 2010 - June 25, 2012 Award Type: Standard Award Amount: $100,000
We are pursuing the combined goals of understanding the role and impact of CCR3 function during blood vessel development in the eye. Further, we are exploiting CCR3 to create images of the earliest stages of neovascular, 'wet', age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We are achieving this by using multiple molecular, biological, and genetic approaches. The potential impact of this proposal is very high as it will further define the functional relevance of the CCR3/eotaxin "axis" to the clinical development and progression of AMD. This will lead to the development of novel CCR3-targeting diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that can be used in the clinic to detect the subclinical stages of neovascular AMD, thus preventing this disease from progressing into a vision threatening state.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a debilitating eye disease which mostly impacts people over age 55 years. It is the leading cause of blindness in the industrialized world. It comes in two varieties, "dry" AMD and "wet" AMD. What distinguishes the wet form from the dry form is the growth of new, leaky, blood vessels under central portion of the retina, which is responsible for your vision as it contains your photoreceptors. The wet form of AMD has a more rapid progression of visual decline which leads to difficulties with basic daily activities such as writing, reading and driving and will often lead to legal blindness. There are some medications currently in use that can slow or stop the progression of this form of the disease once it has become symptomatic, however none of these treatments can prevent the initial vision loss associated with this disease.
Recently our research group identified a molecule known as CCR3 which is located only on AMD related blood vessels.
One of our goals is to determine the origin of these cells, using this marker, which contribute to the growth of these abnormal blood vessels in the eye so we can pick an optimal delivery mechanism for targeting these vessels. The other goal is to develop a minimally invasive novel imaging technique, in animal models of AMD, which would allow us to detect these blood vessels and diagnose and treat this disease before it causes any damage to the retina that would lead to vision loss.
Once this diagnostic and therapeutic treatment has been developed in animal models and its safety has been confirmed then it can be further tested for efficacy in clinical trials on people.
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Pat Logan's Web Log
This personal Web page is not an official University of Rhode Island Web page. See URI disclaimer
Oct. 13, 2013
HTML and the Web
After my last post ("Is Web Development on the Right Track at URI?") I was asked whether the HTML that I teach is old-fashioned.
Good question with a simple answer: It is not. In fact, it remains at the heart of the modern web, which is why I teach it.
How do I know that? I know about the W3C.
My delight in the web comes not from its technology. Coding web pages is fun and interesting, but hours spent on pages for courses and research grow tedious. I do not love the web as a coder. Rather, I love the web for its essence—the coolest experiment in global democracy ever.
The web is not run by a governing body: It never has been. It has, from its inception and to this day been run by a consortium of world experts, empowered by reason and a process of consensus building. Together, they have built a critical enabling technology that has changed human life forever, all within the lifetimes of my youngest students.
The home page of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is www.w3.org. The W3C's About page describes its mission:
The W3C mission is to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure the long-term growth of the Web.
The history of the W3C is available from its own Facts About page, which includes links to other histories and timelines. The ancient history of the web, for example, includes this:
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (see the original proposal). He coined the term "World Wide Web," wrote the first World Wide Web server, "httpd," and the first client program (a browser and editor), "WorldWideWeb," in October 1990. He wrote the first version of the "HyperText Markup Language" (HTML), the document formatting language with the capability for hypertext links that became the primary publishing format for the Web. His initial specifications for URIs, HTTP, and HTML were refined and discussed in larger circles as Web technology spread.
In October 1994, Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Laboratory for Computer Science [MIT/LCS] in collaboration with CERN, where the Web originated [...] with support from DARPA and the European Commission.
I want to get to the question about HTML, but must share, without further comment, one more bit from the W3C's Mission page: this statement of principles (links within original removed):
Design Principles
The following design principles guide W3C's work.
Web for All
The social value of the Web is that it enables human communication, commerce, and opportunities to share knowledge. One of W3C's primary goals is to make these benefits available to all people, whatever their hardware, software, network infrastructure, native language, culture, geographical location, or physical or mental ability. [...]
Web on Everything
The number of different kinds of devices that can access the Web has grown immensely. Mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants, interactive television systems, voice response systems, kiosks and even certain domestic appliances can all access the Web. Learn more about:
- Web of Devices
- Mobile Web Initiative
- Browsers and Other Agents
W3C's vision for the Web involves participation, sharing knowledge, and thereby building trust on a global scale.
Web for Rich Interaction
The Web was invented as a communications tool intended to allow anyone, anywhere to share information. For many years, the Web was a "read-only" tool for many. Blogs and wikis brought more authors to the Web, and social networking emerged from the flourishing market for content and personalized Web experiences. W3C standards have supported this evolution thanks to strong architecture and design principles. Learn more about:
- Web Design and Applications
- Web Architecture
Web of Data and Services
Some people view the Web as a giant repository of linked data while others as a giant set of services that exchange messages. The two views are complementary, and which to use often depends on the application. Learn more about:
- Essential XML Technologies
- Semantic Web
- Web of Services
Web of Trust
The Web has transformed the way we communicate with each other. In doing so, it has also modified the nature of our social relationships. People now "meet on the Web" and carry out commercial and personal relationships, in some cases without ever meeting in person. W3C recognizes that trust is a social phenomenon, but technology design can foster trust and confidence. As more activity moves on-line, it will become even more important to support complex interactions among parties around the globe. Learn more about:
- Semantic Web
- XML Security, Web of Services Security
- Privacy
The odd thing about the W3C is that it functions as the governing body for the entire world wide web, but it is not actually in charge of anything. It does not create or enforce anything. It has no authority like the ISO or ANSI. Instead, the W3C simply makes "Recommendations."
What does "Web standard" mean? What is a "Recommendation"?
W3C publishes documents that define Web technologies. These documents follow a process designed to promote consensus, fairness, public accountability, and quality. At the end of this process, W3C publishes Recommendations, which are considered Web standards.
W3C and HTML
If HTML was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 and the W3C was created in 1994, are either still relevant in 2013?
The W3C continues to be the source of recommendations that determine the nature of the modern web. Although it is not a rule making organization, in fact its recommendations carry the weight of standards. Two groups of people feel this weight: browser makers and code writers.
Because the W3C only makes recommendations, and in fact does not enforce standards of any kind, browser makers are free to take their time ensuring that their browser can do the things that the W3C recommends. Browser makers are also free to not follow the W3C at all. Fortunately, over the 18 years of its existence, the W3C has seen general compliance with its recommendations throughout the web browser industry, which gives it the basis for its claim, "which are considered Web standards."
One of those standard technologies is HTML, a technology that started before the W3C, but since 1994 has been shaped and changed by W3C recommendations.
The W3C hosts a number of detailed timelines and histories of the internet, the W3C, and HTML. One of my favorites is a history of html by Dave Raggett, published in 1998 in a now out-of-print book, Raggett on HTML4. Fortunately, chapter 2, "A History of HTML," is preserved on Dave's W3C web site. It is a great read from someone who was a part of the actual early days of the web and a contributor to its development and improvement. The chapter outlines the history from the 1980s through 1998.
Raggett describes how several things that had been developed by 1991 converged to make HTML on the internet possible. These include the internet itself (physical infrastructure and ability to transmit information via a standard transfer protocol, TCP-IP), the hypercard concept of the MacIntosh computer by Apple (on-screen buttons allowed users to navigate between files), and the Domain Name System.
A program called Distributed Name Service (DNS) maps domain names onto IP addresses, keeping the IP addresses `hidden'. DNS was an absolute breakthrough in making the Internet accessible to those who were not computer nerds.
The original HTML invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 (and all variations since) was globally acceptable because it was based on an already globally established model.
The HTML that Tim invented was strongly based on SGML (Standard Generalized Mark-up Language), an internationally agreed upon method for marking up text into structural units such as paragraphs, headings, list items and so on. SGML could be implemented on any machine. The idea was that the language was independent of the formatter (the browser or other viewing software) which actually displayed the text on the screen. The use of pairs of tags such as
Basing HTML on SGML was a brilliant idea: other people would have invented their own language from scratch but this might have been much less reliable, as well as less acceptable to the rest of the Internet community. Certainly the simplicity of HTML, and the use of the anchor element A for creating hypertext links, was what made Tim's invention so useful.
The original HTML of 1990 was intended for text documents only. It was not until April 1993 that the first browser, Mosaic, was released with the ability to use a new HTML image element (=tag) capable of allowing web pages to now include images as well as text.
In 1993 and 1994, groups all over the world were inventing new additions to HTML and writing code for browsers to support them. By July 1994, a specification including most of these new tags was developed as HTML 2. In the Fall of 1994, Netscape Communications Corp. was formed by a former leader of the Mosaic project, launching a browser (eventually, Netscape Navigator) whose progressive elements made it a market leader for a long while. These included, for example, a new tag (<center>) to center elements and <layer> to permit placement of content within individual, placeable layers on the page; the layer tag was unique to Navigator, quickly disappearing in the next iteration of the browser, replaced by a new <div> tag, suggested by the W3C to create a division of the page. <center> was eventually deprecated (no longer included in the HTML recommendations: see CSS, next). Browser makers competed with new and distinct HTML elements, and the Browser Wars were on. Writing code that would work on all browsers became a near impossible nightmare, just three years in to the graphic web (i.e., post Mosaic) as we know it.
The W3C Consortium was formed in late 1994. Development of new tags and new browsers preceded into 1995, the situation becoming increasingly chaotic. In March 1995, a draft of HTML 3 was released by the consortium, but disagreements over new elements and attributes led only to still further disagreements. Even something as basic as how to mark up tables caused controversy, which was not resolved until release of HTML 3.2 in May 1996. Browser makers elected to use some of the recommendations of HTML 3, claiming they were supporting the new standard, while others offered extensions, again claiming support to the same standard; but browsers remained distinct and incompatible. The nightmare continued for web developers.
CSS and HTML
It was not until December, 1996, that the first recommendation for CSS 1 emerged, making possible a change in W3C philosophy: From CSS 1 forward, HTML would be primarily to provide structure around content, but CSS would be given the responsibility for rendering (for screen media, this means the visual appearance of the page). For example, the display of fonts was moved out of HTML per se when the <font> tag (which set the size, color, and family of fonts) was deprecated (in effect, removed) from HTML 4.01 in December 1999, with font properties thereafter determined in the style sheets. CSS 1 also provided recommendations for spaces around block elements (padding, borders, and margins between blocks).
CSS 2 followed in November 1997, adding positioned elements, a specification for downloadable fonts (see Google Fonts), and new style rules for printers and speaking (aural) browsers (which could read text from an html page).
Never resting, the W3C issued still another recommendation, for XHTML 1, in January 2000. The "X" stood for eXtensible, and the recommendation was based on XML, the eXtensible Markup Language, a more restricted subset of the standard general markup language model (SGML) behind html. Simply put, it was the W3C's attempt to tighten up a specification, meant to apply to both browser makers and coders.
Work on CSS 3 began with releases in 1999, beginning a modular approach to future recommendations; no longer would a single overall recommendation be released, but targeted advances (changes in borders, for example, adding the "border-radius" property to permit nicely rounded corners (used on this page for quoted materials)) would be released piecemeal.
What's next? The W3C says it will release a stable version of HTML5 (note that the preferred usage includes no space between HTML and the 5) by the end of 2014. HTML5 has been in the W3C recommendation draft stage for a while, however, and many of the preliminary recommendations are already appearing in browsers. HTML5 will (hopefully) mark the end of an internal W3C battle to focus on recommendations for developers or to focus on browser makers. HTML5 reverses the trend toward the stricter, more formal rules defining both browser and coding practices under XHTML, and instead suggests that while coders should continue practices advocated under XHTML, browser makers should relax restrictions and cope with many of the HTML elements and practices left in the myriad older pages still populating the web.
Keeping Up
As a web developer, the challenge is keep up with an ever advancing array of HTML and CSS features, dropping outdated, deprecated elements and properties while experimenting with new ones. Developers must be mindful of the current state of dominant new browsers (as well as slightly older browsers that users have not yet updated). Can the majority of browsers handle the latest and greatest W3C recommendation? If not, what will happen (will the page render, or will it "degrade gracefully") if the feature is not available on a particular browser? Students (and their professors) must learn to check browser compatibility, available through tutorial pages from the W3C Schools, www.w3schools.com (or from sites such as caniuse.com).
Last year, for example, I suggested that students should begin using a partial set of HTML5 features, including the HTML5 document declaration (an HTML element that allows newer browsers to recognize HTML5), the new <nav> element as a container for navigation, and styles for opacity and corner rounding. We held back on use of the placeholder html attribute (places a greyed-out placeholder text inside form boxes to suggest what to enter) and background linear and radial gradients because not enough browsers would recognize them. This year, students are having fun incorporating these features into their pages, confident that the new stuff will now work in the latest major browsers (while coding with an understanding that many people still use slightly older versions).
And so, I continue to teach HTML (web developers use the generic "HTML" to refer to the entire spectrum of HTML technologies, all of which are still being used on servers and browsers somewhere on the world wide web today). Does that make me incompetent or hopelessly old-fashioned? Of course not. It is part of the work of being a web developer to keep up with a constant stream of changes in HTML, but so long as the backbone of the world wide web remains HTML and CSS, it's what students need to be taught.
My concerns with wordpress are not that it is an inappropriate competitor for HTML. Worldpress uses PHP server-side coding and a MySQL database to enter and store, and later retrieve and display, content entered by a user. PHP produces HTML and CSS for client-side browsers, pages that use exactly the same HTML and CSS as pages my students learn to create; otherwise, browser's could not render them.


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This week's photo of the week is a beauty courtesy of Obeo Real Estate Photography, Jay McCormick, of Oklahoma. It's stunning! Jay did a wonderful job of capturing the over all feel of the room, but at the same time, focusing on the room's features like the gorgeous built-ins and the detailed crown moldings. The over-all look and feel of the room is what draws the viewer in, but the details are what captivates the buyer, making this home more memorable. To view the entire virtual tour of this home, please visit http://www.obeo.com/665587.
Who shoots your real estate photography? When you choose Obeo, you can be guaranteed professional results with every real estate listing we photograph. Obeo has a large network of talented real estate photographers across the United States and Canada. Using the latest equipment and training, our team is ready to make your listings look their very best. Combine professional real estate photography with the Obeo HomeSite virtual tour platform and you are set to amaze potential buyers!
Most importantly, we're going to help you make more money! That's right, in a study done by Redfin Corporation, it was discovered that listings marketed with professional DSLR real estate photography sold for more money! The study showed that listings marketed with DSLR photos gained any where from $1000 to $100,000 more at closing! A fact that is guaranteed to make your seller happy.
Obeo Photo of The Week
This photo was shot by Obeo professional photographer, Jay McCormick of Oklahoma.
See You There
Join Obeo on Facebook & Twitter, for Fan & Follower only special promotions!


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Clashes erupted in Cairo's Heliopolis on Wednesday, the last day of a constitutional referendum seen by the interim government as a stepping stone towards democracy, but by Islamists, who have boycotted it, as illegitimate.
Security forces blocked the roads leading to the presidential palace after Roxy Square in Heliopolis witnessed violent confrontations.
An eyewitness told Aswat Masriya that supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi set a kiosk on fire and that he saw one injured man.
A pro-Mursi alliance had called for demonstrations against the two-day referendum that began on Tuesday.
Mursi's supporters have been staging protests since the army ousted him in July in response to mass demonstrations across the country.


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WB/Dominican Republic: More than 1.3 Million Poor Dominicans to Benefit from Social Protection, Better Employability and Housing
WASHINGTON, March 12th, 2015 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a new project for the Dominican Republic worth US$75 million, which seeks to ensure that thousands of citizens... Show More +
Transcript: Development Committee Press Conference
MR. MILLS: Well, thank you very much for joining us for this closing press conference. Our participants will each make an opening statement and then we'll take... Show More +
Transcript of Opening Press Conference with World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick
MR. MILLS: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our World Bank Group press conference for the 2012 Spring Meetings. Joining me this morning is the President of the World Bank... Show More +
3 out of 5 People in Developing Countries Lack Safety Nets
World Bank announces new focus on Social Protection and Labor and releases new open data tool to help countries close the gap in coverage for the poorestWASHINGTON, April 18, 2012 – The World Bank today... Show More +
World Bank Flash: Close the Gap - Safety Nets Work
April 18, 2012 "Safety nets can transform people's lives and provide a foundation for inclusive growth without busting budgets. Effective safety net coverage overcomes poverty and promotes economic opportunity... Show More +
Zoellick Congratulates Dr. Jim Yong Kim as New World Bank Group President
Washington, April 16, 2012 — World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick today congratulated Dr. Jim Yong Kim for being chosen to become the 12th president of the development institution and offered... Show More +
Statement from Dr. Jim Yong Kim regarding his selection by the World Bank's Executive Directors as 12th President of the World Bank
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World Bank's Executive Directors Select Dr. Jim Yong Kim 12th President of the World Bank Group
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Dominican Republic/World Bank: 600,000 Poor Households will Benefit from Increased Accountability in Social Sectors
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In formal debating contest, there are rules enabling people to discuss and decide on differences, within a framework defining how they will interact. Informal debate is a common occurrence, but the quality and depth of a debate improves with knowledge and skill of its participants as debaters. Deliberative bodies such as parliaments, legislative assemblies, and meetings of all sorts engage in debates. The outcome of a debate may be decided by audience vote, by judges, or by some combination of the two. Formal debates between candidates for elected office, such as the leaders debates and the U.S. presidential election debates, are common in democracies. '''
Rule-based competitive debate is often encouraged in high schools and colleges. Often, it takes the form of a contest with explicit rules. It may be presided over by one or more judges. Each side seeks to win, by following the rules, and even by using some rules to break other rules, within limits. Each side is either in favor ("for, 'Affirmative' "), or opposed to ("against, 'Negative' "), a statement (proposition or Resolution) which if adopted would change something with the exception of some high school and college debate where moots may hold no outcome ie. the moot "ignorance is bliss". Some of the rules are broad and must be followed in a general way. For example, those in favor of the proposition are
To further illustrate the importance of rules, those opposed must destroy these arguments, sufficiently to warrant not adopting the proposition, and are not required to propose any alternative solutions.
The major goal of the study of debate as a method or art is to develop one's ability to play from either position with equal ease. To inexperienced debaters, some propositions appear easier to defend or to destroy; to experienced debaters, any proposition can be defended or destroyed after the same amount of preparation time, usually quite short. Lawyers argue forcefully on behalf of their client, even if the facts appear against them. However one large misconception about debate is that it is all about argument; it is not.
Competitive Debate is an organized activity with teams competing at the local, national, and international level. It is popular in English-speaking universities and high schools around the world, most notably in South Africa, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Many different styles of debate occur under a variety of organizations and rules.
Parliamentary Debate (sometimes referred to as "parli" in the United States) is conducted under rules derived from British parliamentary procedure. It features the competition of individuals in a multi-person setting. It borrows terms such as "government" and "opposition" from the British parliament (although the term "proposition" is used rather than "government" when debating in the United Kingdom).
Throughout the world, parliamentary debate is what most countries know as "debating", and is the primary style practiced in the United Kingdom, Australia, India and most other nations. The premier event in the world of parliamentary debate, the World Universities Debating Championship, is conducted in the British Parliamentary style.
Even within the United Kingdom, however, 'British Parliamentary' style is not used exclusively; the English-Speaking Union runs the national championships for schools in a unique format, known as the 'Mace' format after the name of the competition, while simultaneously using British Parliamentary format for the national universities championships.
In the U.S. the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) is the oldest national parliamentary debating organization, based on the east coast and including all of the Ivy League, although the more recently founded National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) is now the largest collegiate sponsor. The National Parliamentary Debate League (NPDL) is the umbrella organization for all parliamentary debating at the secondary school level in the United States. And in Canada, the Canadian Universities Society for Intercollegiate Debating (CUSID) is the umbrella organization for all university-level debating; at the secondary school level, the Canadian Student Debating Federation (CSDF) has the same function.
Topics in parliamentary debate can either be set by the tournament or determined by the debaters as the "Government" side begins. In many forms of the activity rhetoric and style, as well as the more traditional knowledge and research, can play a significant role in determining the victor with marks shared equally between matter and manner. It has been widely labeled as the most democratic form of educational debate.
Each team is comprised of three members, each of whom is named according to their team and speaking position within his/her team. For instance the second speaker of the affirmative team to speak is called the "Second Affirmative Speaker" or "Second Proposition Speaker", depending on the terminology used. Each of the speakers' positions is based around a specific role, the third speaker for example has the opportunity to make a rebuttal towards the opposing teams argument introducing new evidence to add to their position. The last speaker is called the "Team Advisor/Captain". Using this style, the debate is finished with a closing argument by each of the first speakers from each team and new evidence may not be introduced. Each of the six speakers (three affirmative and three negative) speak in succession to each other beginning with the Affirmative Team. The speaking order is as follows: First Affirmative, First Negative, Second Affirmative, Second Negative, Third Affirmative, and finally Third Negative.
The context in which the Australasia style of debate is used varies, but in Australia and New Zealand is mostly used at the Primary and Secondary school level, ranging from small informal one-off intra-school debates to larger more formal inter-school competitions with several rounds and a finals series which occur over a year.
This is the biggest debating tournament in Asia, where teams from the Middle East to Japan come to debate. It is traditionally hosted in southeast Asia where participation is usually highest compared to other parts of Asia.
Asian debates are largely an adaptation of the Australasian format. The only difference is that each speaker is given 7 minutes of speech time and there will be points of information (POI) offered by the opposing team between the 2nd to 6th minutes of the speech. This means that the 1st and 7th minute is considered the 'protected' period where no POI's can be offered to the speaker.
The debate will commence with the Prime Minister's speech (first proposition) and will be continued by the first opposition. This alternating speech will go on until the third opposition. Following this, the opposition bench will give the reply speech.
In the reply speech, the opposition goes first and then the proposition. The debate ends when the proposition ends the reply speech. 4 minutes is allocated for the reply speech and no POI's can be offered during this time.
Policy Debate is a style of debating where two teams of two debaters advocate or oppose a plan derived from a resolution that usually calls for a change in policy by a government. Teams normally alternate, and compete in rounds as either "affirmative" or "negative". In most forms of the activity, there is a fixed topic for an entire year or another set period. In comparison to parliamentary debate, policy debate relies more on researched evidence and tends to have a larger sphere of what is considered legitimate argument, including counterplans, critical theory, and debate about the theoretical standards of the activity itself. While rhetoric is important and reflected in the "speaker points" given to each debater, each round is usually decided based on who has "won" the argument according to the evidence and logic presented. Additionally, in certain segments of the activity, debaters may "spread" (speak very rapidly), in order to present as much evidence and information as possible and counter the other side.
Policy Debate is mostly practiced in the United States (where it is sometimes referred to as Cross-Examination, or CX debate), although it has been attempted in Europe and Japan and has certainly influenced other forms of debate. Its evolution has been towards what some see as a more esoteric style.
Classical debate is a relatively new debate format, first created and primarily practiced in the state of Minnesota. It was formed as an alternative to Policy debating. Certain judges and coaches felt that the development of Policy had led it to become an extremely specialized form of debate with heavy reliance on near-incomprehensible speed in speaking and less emphasis on real-world arguments in favor of "strategic" arguments that often bordered on the near-absurd. With a structure similar to that of Policy, Classical debate emphasizes logic and real-world discussion. For this reason, it is often nicknamed "Policy Lite".
As opposed to Policy, where each Affirmative proposes a new plan, classical debate is simpler: one resolution is chosen at the beginning of the season, which the Affirmative affirms and Negative negates. The emphasis on depth instead of breadth provided by the restriction can make for interesting rounds that often come down to arguments that might otherwise pale in other formats.
This style of debate generally centers around three main contentions, although a team can occasionally use two or four. In order for the affirmative side to win, all of the negative contentions must be defeated, and all of the affirmative contentions must be left standing. Most of the information presented in the debate must be tied in to support one of these contentions, or "sign posted". Much of extemporaneous debate is similar to policy debate; one main difference, however, is that extemporaneous debate focuses less on the implementation of the resolution.
Lincoln-Douglas debate, a form of United States high school debate named after the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858, is a one-on-one event focused mainly on applying philosophical theories to real world issues. Debaters normally alternate sides from round to round as either the "affirmative", which upholds the resolution, or "negative", which attacks it. The resolution, which changes bimonthly, asks whether a certain policy or action conforms to a specific value.
Though established as an alternative to policy debate, there has been a strong movement to embrace certain techniques that originated in policy debate (and, correspondingly, a strong backlash movement). Plans, counterplans, critical theory, postmodern theory, debate about the theoretical basis and rules of the activity itself, and kritiks have all reached more than occasional, if not yet universal, usage. Lincoln-Douglas speeches can range from a conversational pace to well over 300 wpm (when trying to maximize the number of arguments and depth of each argument's development). There is also a growing emphasis on carded evidence, though still much less than in policy debate. These trends have created a serious rift within the activity between the debaters, judges, and coaches who advocate or accept these changes, and those who vehemently oppose them.
Policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments are often held concurrently at the same school.
Each year, the International Debate Education Association hosts an annual Youth Forum, during which the Karl Popper World Championships are held. Nations from all around the world attend this Forum for the tournament, as well as the 2 week debate training camp.
The first speaker of the Proposition (Prime Minister) opens the debate, followed by the first speaker of the Oppostion (Shadow Prime Minister), then the second speaker of the Proposition and so on.
Every speaker speaks for 6 minutes. After the first minute and before the last minute, debaters from the opposite team may ask Points of Information, which the speaker may accept or reject as he wishes (although he is supposed to accept at least 2).
The French Debating Association organizes its National Debating Championship upon this style.
Since the 1976 general election, debates between presidential candidates have been a part of U.S. presidential campaigns. Unlike debates sponsored at the high school or collegiate level, the participants, format, and rules are not independently defined. Nevertheless, in a campaign season heavily dominated by television advertisements, talk radio, sound bites, and spin, they still offer a rare opportunity for citizens to see and hear the major candidates side-by-side. The format of the presidential debates, though defined differently in every election, is typically more restrictive than many traditional formats, forbidding participants to ask each other questions and restricting discussion of particular topics to short time frames.
The presidential debates were initially moderated in 1976, 1980, 1984 by the League of Women Voters, but The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) was established in 1987 by the Republicans and Democrats to "ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners." Its primary purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the United States presidential and vice presidential candidates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates. The organisation, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation, sponsored all the presidential debates in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. However, in announcing its withdrawal from sponsoring the debates, the League of Women Voters stated that it was withdrawing "because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter." In 2004, the Citizens' Debate Commission was formed in the hope of establishing an independent sponsor for presidential debates, with a more voter-centric role in the definition of the participants, format, and rules.
All forms of debate, whether consciously or not, make certain assumptions about argumentation theory. The core concept of argumentation theory is the notion of advocacy. In most cases, at least one side in a debate needs to maintain the truth of some proposition or advocate some sort of personal or political change or action. A debate could also potentially be between two or more competing propositions or actions. Or debate could also be a purely performative exercise of charisma and emotion with no assumption of fixed advocacy, but it would possibly lose much of its coherence.


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The tourism and hospitality sector in The Gambia will soon be boosted with the opening of another resort named Kasan Conservation and Koba Lodge located at Njassang Kaolong Forest Park.
This new project was disclosed to reporters Sunday at Senegambia Beach Hotel, Kololi, by Bakary Jammeh, GTBoard chairperson, who is also a partner to the project. He said Kasan Conservation and Koba Lodge project is in the offing as they havebeen introduced to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and they are waiting response from the authority.
He revealed that there is a key educational component in the project, as they would partner with the University of The Gambia (UTG) and Ministries of Higher Education Research and Technology and Basic and Secondary Education. "It is not only for people to go and watch animals for pleasure but to learn and understand the animals. Therefore, it is going to be an opportunity to see, study and develop the habit of living side by side with nature," Jammeh further stated.
He reiterated that they are already engaging the government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to allow the kick-off of the project as soon as possible hence there are a lot of investors who have already come on board.
Jammeh assured of the immediate commencement of the project as soon as they receive the nod to proceed. He explained that among the major advantages of the project is that it will defend the surrounding villages and their rice fields against the hippos.
Hans Musters, among other partners to the project, shared similar sentiments. He said The Gambia is a nice place to invest and in the future they intend to contribute to education among other things.


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Excellent contribution, nice page style, stick to the good work
- News
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- 2015 Staff
For the past three years, people have been unhappy with the policies of Barrack Obama. Most of all, Republicans. They state that Obama is not making decisions in the best interest of America and that his socialist and liberal policies are harming America, turning us into a Communist or Socialist state. Because of all the tension, almost no one is paying attention to the Democratic National convention. Mostly because they're pretty sure that Republicans are going to win.
Because of that, it's pretty safe to say that it won't matter who becomes the next president. When I look at the policies of most of the Republican candidates, aside from some slight differences, they are identical. For that reason, I say that the presidency will be decided during the party nominations. This little phenomenon is similar to the presidents during the 20s. People voted for certain candidates because they were Republican, not because their policies sounded fair. They were having a good time. Why should they bring in a socialist politician to spoil it? Then the depression happened. When America is in prosperity, they tend to make decisions that try to enhance that prosperity. When we're in a recession, we vote for a Democrat to get us out. When the situation doesn't change, we use them as scapegoats for all of our problems.
The president being a Republican is not a statement that we're becoming more conservative in our political ideals. It's a statement that we hate Obama, and the Democratic Party along with him. Just because he did a bad job doesn't mean that Democrats haven't helped this country in the past. FDR and Woodrow Wilson are some of our greatest presidents, and they were Democrats. Obama making poor choices just says that he wasn't prepared to deal with the pressure of being president. We probably should've picked John McCain, but we can't ever see a good president just by looking at what he SAYS he will do. It's impossible to learn how a candidate will cope with being a president until he becomes president.
It's for that reason I say again: one year from now, will it really matter who we elect as President?
By Luke VanDeWeert
Excellent contribution, nice page style, stick to the good work
Pingback: Mitt Romney's student talk missed one thing: Students | The Reflection


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Medal of Honor Frontline - PS2
4 out of 5
Better than original's easier pacing
A hardcore challenge when on a gamepad
Medal of Honor was one of the best selling games on the PlayStation, so good in fact, that it had a sequel, Underground, and a PC version, Allied Assault (with expansion pack, Spearhead). The acronym has become synonymous with the military world, so it was no surprise that Medal of Honor soon became MOH and MOHU, MOHAA, MOHF (and no, these aren't the ramblings of a drunken fool). Anyway, I digress. Medal of Honor Frontline sees Lt. Jimmy Paterson, head back into battle against the German Nazi machine, this time, on the PS2. The influence of Saving Private Ryan is immediately obvious in the opening levels of the game - in fact, they're identical (the D-Day beaches). Well, what better way to get into action?
The controls are the same as before, generally they take a bit of time to get used to so you can co-ordinate all your actions at the same time. Be warned - should you choose to play another control heavy first person shooter, you'll probably forget all the quirky little controls. Not that you would play anything else - MOHF is highly addictive. One of the great features of the original game was the awesome sound quality, and MOHF retains that. The interspersed video footage adds realism to the WWII setting, and the graphics are good but remain above average. There's nothing wrong with them, but at the same time the visuals don't leap out at you - unlike the sound, which does. There has been a recent trend for talking about AI - the reactions of the enemy. I have to say, it is strange. It is best to attack the enemy on sight, otherwise they will trigger the alarm. They also have this strange penchant for sidestepping. Or standing at the bottom of the stairs, slowly taking shots at you. Overall, they are not the smartest soldiers, but still very tough.
The storyline is the special operative style, doing lots of little critical missions to change the course of the war, and help out your allies on the way. The game has a sense of humour - there are various little things that raise a smile - especially towards the end. And things stay true to the cause - it isn't a Wolfenstein 3D 'Hitler is a robot' (if you saw that, you know what I mean). But here is the crux: MOHF is easy enough to suck you in, but after a while, it gets hard, and when it gets hard you try harder. Some levels are long, and if you die, you're back to the start of the level to lengthen the game's life. It draws you in and ensnares you, so you have to keep playing.


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Results 1 to 6 of 6
August 16th, 2007 #1
CelestialEnigma Realism Study (some nudity)
This is my very first post here, and when browsing the forum I got the idea to do my own sketchbook journal. I am serious about being a freelance artist, but I am trying to study on my own. But what I really need to work on is realism and getting the basics down pat (something I don't think many people can do fully but I can at least get as much known as possible). I am open to critiques, in fact try to give as many as possible ^_^.
So here is the first one:
Last edited by celestialenigma; August 16th, 2007 at 01:20 AM.
Hide this ad by registering as a memberAugust 16th, 2007 #2
Oh, you already started a sketchbook I see. You should put the link to your sketchbook in your signature, so when someone sees one of your posts, they can follow it here. Also, feel free to post your elf drawing in here too even though it's in the Critique forum as well.
I think the most important thing at this point is to draw whole lots. Draw yourself in a mirror, your face, you sitting. Get ppl to pose for you. Draw your pets. Draw from photos. Draw everyday things like apples and shells. Just try to get lots of practice and don't worry if it doesn't look perfect. And try to draw every day. Even if it's for an hour or an afternoon. It's the best way to see consistent progress.
Good luck! ;D
Sketchbook * Deviantart * Twitter * Google+ * Facebook
August 16th, 2007 #3
Hi and welcome to CA!
Agreed with dierat, practice makes perfect! and also you should pick up some drawing or anatomy books (Lewis, Hogarth, Vilpus drawing manual...)
Best of luck !
Please visit my - My SketchBook - Critiques more than welcome!
August 16th, 2007 #4
o_O Damn why she's with penis? OR IS IT HE? whatever it is it looks not bad (figure not penis), study more muscle anatomy, and read books as panda said. Good luck and welcome
sujak nx
August 16th, 2007 #5
you have ways to go but this is one of the best beginnings you could've made. best of luck and welcome
August 20th, 2007 #6


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YIELD: Serves 4 as first-course
Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil baking sheet. Arrange peppers, cut side up, on sheet. Mix tomatoes and garlic in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Fill pepper cavities with tomato mixture. Drizzle 1 teaspoon oil over each. Place 2 anchovy fillets atop each. Bake until peppers are tender, about 50 minutes.
Arrange cheese atop peppers. Bake until cheese melts, about 3 minutes. Transfer peppers to platter. Sprinkle with basil and serve.


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Learn more about SecureShot Air Iionizer Covert Surveillance Camera & DVR with IR's (Dual):
Manufacturer: Productive Electronics
Mfg Part#: SS-AI-DU
Sku: 224320506
See more in Security Cameras
|Amazingly small "plug & play" air ionizer plugs into any standard AC outlet. Totally self-contained and featuring our famous "total convert" package.No visible SD cards or anything! All new state-of-the-art Mpeg4 technology make this the most powerful covert security recording product on the market today. Built-in night light hides 24 invisible (950NM) IR illuminators, allowing unit to record in TOTAL DARKNESS! Motion activated, time/date stamped security recording has never been easier! Recording can be played back directly from the unit or SD card can be removed and played on PC. (Includes USB SD card reader)


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Why? Because you can! And pickle, and jam, or otherwise celebrate the resurgence of the domestic arts our forebears held so dear. Put on your best apron and step into our kitchen, won't you?
Dehydrated Asian pears and fresh ginger make a delightful infused vodka. Make it now to celebrate Christmas or New Years.
Not your grandpa's limoncello. Delirious smell at first sniff and incredible, non bitter taste will make you drink it until either someone takes it away from you or you empty the bottle. Either way it's super simple. Printable recipe included.
Local Minnesota Summercrisp Pears soaked in vodka for 3 months, results in a vodka with a pretty pink brown hue that tastes like pear heaven, sweat, floral and delicious. But you can make this easy infusion with any ripe pear you have on hand.
Candy corn is aplenty this time of year. Rather than letting the kids eat it all, make a batch of candy corn infused vodka. After a few hours it will be ready for you to enjoy on the rocks or in one of these candy corn vodka cocktails. Cheers!
A simple, quick infusion of Key Limes into Vodka creating a refreshing citrus vodka for summer cocktails.
Make this AFTER you make any other lovely strawberry recipe here on PD.
Five ideas for preserving Meyer lemons and a recipe for Meyer Lemon Finishing Salt
Two ingredients- Candy Canes & Vodka provide the most brilliant red/minty infused vodka EVER!
Do you have any fun cocktail plans for Halloween? Infuse green apples in vodka, add caramel syrup and enjoy sipping a favorite Halloween-time treat!
A peppery vodka to make your cocktails taste like the garden long into the winter (and some history of one of my favorite flowers).


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Some ministers in President Goodluck Jonathan's cabinet are said to be jittery over an emergency Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting scheduled to hold today instead of tomorrow, the official date set aside for the weekly council meeting.
The president who has been in a pensive mood, following the tragic helicopter crash that killed Kaduna State Governor Ibrahim Yakowa and former NSA Andrew Azazi was said to have remained in his office throughout yesterday without attending to any official function except to receive sympathisers who thronged his office at the Presidential illa to commiserate with him.
Although the agenda for the emergency FEC meeting convened by Jonathan was still sketchy at the time of filing this report, LEADERSHIP gathered that it might have something to do with the president's resolve to get all the ministers to present their performance report before the year runs out.
In the past two weeks, FEC meetings have dragged into the late evenings because of ministers' presentation of annual performance reports.
Sources at the presidency told LEADERSHIP that the presentation of the annual reports may not be enough for the president to convene an emergency FEC meeting a day to the official date and that some ministers are apprehensive of the president's true intentions.
"Some of the non-performing ministers are jittery that they may be asked to go following the recent series of pressures mounted on the president to get rid of redundant elements in his government," said a source, who craved anonymity.
One of such pressures, according to him, was last Friday's declaration by one of the president's kinsman, Alhaji Mujaheed Asari Dokubo, that it would be difficult for Jonathan to rule beyond 2015 because he chose to surround himself with 'greedy' people.
Dokubo had said that such people were responsible for the crack between the president and former president Olusegun Obasanjo, and had also made the president lose the support of the South East and South South, two zones in the country considered his political strongholds.


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Lawmakers at the National Assembly Tuesday unanimously considered and ratified a US$26.6M Grant Financing Agreement between the government of The Gambia and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for Food and Agriculture Sector Development Project (FASDEP).
Laid before deputies by the Finance and Economic Affairs minister, Abdou Kolley, the grant with a focus on rural households will contribute to the achievement of The Gambia's key development objectives of reducing poverty by improving food security, increasing and diversifying food production, as well as raising the income of rural producers.
"Following the finalisation of the Gambia National Agriculture Investment Programme (GNAIP), the government embarked on a resource mobilisation drive to secure the necessary funds for the successful implementation of the programme," the Finance minister told the deputies. "The Gambia's submission to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), a multilateral financing mechanism for agriculture and food security in developing countries, was received favourably. It is in this context that a Financing Agreement was signed between the government and AfDB in Marrakech, Morocco, on 28th May 2013 amounting to US$26, 600,000 for the financing of Food and Agriculture Sector Development Project (FASDEP). The AFDB is the supervising entity of GAFSP pursuant to the Transfer Agreement signed on 26th October 2010, between International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and African Development Bank," he informed the deputies.
Through this project, according to the minister, the government would implement one of the most critical pillars of the Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE) agriculture strategy, by undertaking investment activities as approved by the GAFSP Steering Committee. These, he disclosed, include, improved agriculture infrastructure development and management; agricultural production, diversification and commercialisation; improved approaches to national food and nutrition security; project management and capacity building.
The Finance minister revealed that in addition to these investments, that there would be a technical assistance component to the project that would be delivered by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Seconding the motion, the Jarra West lawmaker, Hon. Njie Darboe, thanked the minister of Finance and Economic Affairs and his team for the successful negotiation, describing the grant as important to the country's development.
Darboe said soil and water management is very important, and noted that GNAIP has been doing well in constructing bridges and culverts for women and men rice farmers to have access to their rice fields. NAM Darboe seized the opportunity to suggest that the government revitalise the Department of Livestock to control the health component of their livestock in this country.
The member for Foni Kansala, Hon. Buba A. Bojang also spoke on the issue.


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Business news in brief
Posted: May 3, 2013 at 3:17 a.m.
QUOTE OF THE DAY "We think hiring will be more subdued in the second quarter as the economy weathers a consumer spending slowdown and sequestration job cuts." Julia Coronado, a BNP Paribas economist Article, 1D
This story is only available from our archives.
Business, Pages 30 on 05/03/2013
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Dealership owner sued over titles A Greenbrier auto dealership was sued Thursday by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in Pulaski County Circuit Court. Read »
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Companies reporting quarterly earnings Thursday included: HCA Holdings Inc., the largest for-profit U.S. hospital chain, a profit of $344 million, or 74 cents a share, down... Read »


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Rooster call
Sean Haggai
In the San Fernando Valley, local coffee digs are hard to come by. Lucky for me, I ditched the hustle and bustle of the Panera Bread eatery in favor of a more secluded corner coffee shop that serves up fresh baked goods and coffee, and even provide free wireless internet service. This means I can write as if I were at home or in the office and even get my cup of Joe as well; besides, it's delicious. It's the sort of place where the coffee techs (I refuse to call them baristas) know you by name and begin preparing your favorite coffee drink.
So why the change from a mainstream, corporate place to a locals only spot? Simply, I've never been a huge fan of the high volume of people that rotate through Starbucks like robots. To me, they all look a little stiff. At Gayle's Perks coffee shop you can pop in, grab your usual seat, and moments later your steamy drink arrives. I'm also a super-fan of their black tea. Perks serves up a very refreshing iced tea that's hard to beat. No, its not sweet-tea, but it gets the job done. At that point, it doesn't feel like work anymore and more like a great social hangout. It's sort of comical to see the same exact patrons there day after day. They must be doing something right. Either way, I can't tell enough people about this place and they serve some of the most delicious Panini style sandwiches I've ever had. Believe it or not, a lot of the edit you see from me has been hashed out here at Perks.
As I get older, the virtues of traditional mom and pop shops are becoming more important to me. I've always been a huge supporter of buying parts and services from local speed shops, but now that has expanded to other goods and services. It doesn't take much effort either; it just takes being more aware of what's local and a conscious effort on our part to patronize them.
In the end, I believe paying attention to local businesses will keep more of them around. Going a bit further, it's the same for our industry. This means visiting local newsstands for any printed literature. This also helps to keep magazines on the newsstands for all to be enjoyed and allows us to keep doing what we are doing. I think I'll take that turkey Panini now.
Department Of Corrections
Back in the August issue, we showcased the complete AutoRad radiator assembly ("Totally Cool," pg.46) being installed onto our Project F73 Camaro. In the caption, we inadvertently listed the bushing as a urethane piece. It's actually a core support mount (accessory component) supplied by Detroit Speed with their body mount kit. These trick pieces are CNC machined from billet aluminum, which are then hardcoated to resist corrosion and include their CNC machined stainless steel bevel washers. We even went with the optional 17-4 stainless steel flanged body bolts. For more information, head over to detroitspeed.com or call them directly at 704.731.0989.
Classic Industries Extends Hours
At a time when many restoration parts retailers are cutting back on customer service, Classic Industries is bucking the trend by offering greater service than ever. To better serve its customers as the world's largest distributor of GM restoration parts and accessories Classic Industries has extended its business hours! Beginning in June, Classic Industries will open its call center two hours earlier, now available from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday. Their Saturday call center hours will remain unchanged, opening from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. PST. Classic Industries hopes this move will better serve customers who were either previously unable to order over the phone due to scheduling or time zone differences. You can also check them out online at classicindustries.com


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What Is The Future Of Digital Advertising?
Inner workings of the industry can never be understood by us because they are constantly changing. Changes are more common than we actually perceive them to be. Winston Churchill once said, "… this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning" [...]
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By KELLY DANIELS
firstname.lastname@example.com [2]
A proposal to relieve Starkville's industrial park from city sidewalk ordinance requirements has generated debate and scrutiny from residents and pedestrian activists.
That proposal again saw much discussion during the first of two public hearings on the issue before the Starkville Board of Aldermen
At the request from Golden Triangle Planning and Development District director, Rudy Johnson, who plans to build a facility for the Senior Enrichment Center, the Starkville Board of Aldermen will consider granting him and the entire industrial park an exemption from the city's law requiring sidewalks with development. The park includes areas along Miley Drive, Pollard Road, Industrial Road and Airport Road.
"Looking at these businesses (located in the industrial park), I don't see how we could possibly consider this an industrial area," said Mark Duncan, president of Starkville in Motion, a local group promoting pedestrian and bicycle access and safety.
Duncan reported that he took pictures of the park's businesses that were not industrial.
They included the following: An AT&T office, the Oktibbeha County Central Shop, the Starkville Community Church, NAPA Auto Parts, Interstate Battery, a cabinet shop, an engineering firm, a rental car service, a fire station, Mobility Medical Inc., SERVPRO, a pet supply store, the GTPDD, a party rental and supply facility, a gymnastics academy and the Oktibbeha County Co-Op.
In response, founding senior center volunteer Jim McKell said Duncan failed to mention the Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Flexsteel Industries Inc. and other manufacturers, located in the park.
McKell argued that a sidewalk at the senior center's proposed location would start and end at a ditch and block drainage, while the nearest continuing sidewalk is 1.6 miles away and is in poor condition.
"Reasonable, logical thought is necessary here, and I ask that you be reasonable," McKell said.
Former alderman Rodney Lincoln, reporting his career in the Industrial Park to last 22 years, said he rarely sees pedestrians in the Industrial Park.
"I can count more deer in the road than I could can count people walking in the industrial park," Lincoln added, warning that pedestrian activity in the area could create safety problems. "I'd be best not to have sidewalks in that area."
Having publicly refused to include sidewalks into his plans to build the senior center with threats to relocate his agency from the city, Johnson deplored the lack of progress on his facility's construction, a building he said could be halfway built in six months.
"This board should be wanting to work with me wanting to spend $1.6 million in Starkville for a place for our seniors to go," he said. "They want it, I want it and I hope this board wants it, because it's needed."
Supporting Johnson's request, Ward 6 Alderman Roy Á. Perkins said he was not convinced that the park needed sidewalks and that there was no data supporting that need.
But opponents contend that the city has no data to deny them either.
Transportation committee member Chris Gottbrath asked officials to order a traffic count of both pedestrians and vehicles, as opposed to what he called an unfair, arbitrary exemption to the ordinance without having gone through a fact-based process.
"Can we not consider the geography of this area, what two regions this (area) connects?" Gottbrath asked. "In general, how is the city going to react to the next developer who thinks the city laws that apply to the rest of the community should not apply to them?" he said.
As Ward 2's representative on the Transportation Committee, Gottbrath said that Industrial Road serves pedestrians as the shortest path from apartments on Lynn Lane to shopping centers on Highway 12.
Transportation Committee chairman Jim Gafford criticized the argument that because of sidewalk requirements, the city could not have a senior center.
Calling for a balanced and comprehensive network for pedestrians, Gafford gave deference to the necessity of a variance process included in the ordinance, agreeing that not every street needs a sidewalk.
"But creating an exclusionary zone without developing further policies and ordinances that enact vision for what we want an area to develop into is shortsighted," he said.
Gafford called for cohesive vision among the board for how the city develops.
"I encourage you, as people who have been elected — that is really your job," he said.
In effort to save the board's time, Mayor Parker Wiseman warned during a previous meeting that he would veto board approval of exempting the industrial park from the sidewalk ordinance, though a formal vote has yet to be taken.
In the middle of a long statement, Perkins criticized editorials and articles in local newspapers stating that the board has circumvented the transportation committee's process of drafting a variance process for the ordinance before it could formulate a recommendation.
The Transportation Committee has held two public hearings while drafting language for a variance process. The panel's members reported they planned to present a revision to the ordinance in January. The committee has yet to send a formal recommendation for the Board of Aldermen.
"The board is not bound by any decision from any committee," Perkins said. "We are the elected officials."
Perkins called such editorials "smokescreens," because the board dishonors recommendations from committees on many occasions.
"If there's somebody at the press who wants to serve at this table, they need to run for the Board of Aldermen," he said. "We are the governing body; the newspaper does not run this city."
Quick loan business ban sees extension for a year
Payday lenders shouldn't bother locating to Starkville for another year, the Board of Aldermen agreed Tuesday.
In a 6-1 vote, the board approved an extension of the moratorium enacted in January to place a cap on the 20 fast-loan offices having rapidly sprouted in the city.
Ward 3 Alderman Eric Parker voted against extending the moratorium.
The extension will last a year or until officials complete the city's comprehensive plan, which city officials describe as a visionary tool for development in Starkville.
[1] http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/sites/default/files/From City Hall_30.jpg
[2] mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com


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I'm thrilled to finally have published my first fitness book on Amazon Kindle. It's called "Superset Workouts for Super Bodies".
This book extensively covers the superset concept of working out including weightlifting supersets, cardio supersets, yoga supersets and circuit training.
UPDATE May 1, 2013: This book is now available via this website (check the sidebar) or on Facebook here. It's now free all the time. Enjoy.
The book also includes 3 sample superset workouts.
5 FREE Upcoming Download Days
You'll be able to download my book for free on the Amazon Sales Page the following days:
- Saturday, November 17, 2012
- Saturday, December 1, 2012
If you want to learn more about supersets, this is the book to read.
This book is regularly priced at $2.99 which you can buy at any time. Go here to download Superset Workouts for Super Bodies.
If you don't have a Kindle, you can still get the book … just download the Kindle reader for your computer or mobile device.
I Hope You Enjoy,
Jon Dyer