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In New York City, March 25, 1911, 123 women and 23 men died from fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths when a fire broke out in the building where their factory resided on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors.
The incident was known as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and is the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the New York City.
This tragedy and loss of life eventually led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards.
While this famous incident is over 100-years-old, workplace deaths and injuries are still happening today.
In a recent case, Cusseta, Ala., Regina Elsea was working at an auto parts manufacturer on the assembly line when a mishap occurred, and Elsea was impaled by one of the robots. She died the following day.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reviewed Elsea's case and found the contracting company she worked for was in violation of a federal law that could have prevented her death.
Sadly, in both cases these accidents could have been prevented with better evaluation of contractors and adherence to higher standards of safety in the workplace.
Read more at Lasting Effects of Supply Chain Mismanagement
Share your opinion with us in the comment box and subscribe us to get more updates.


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By Times Staff Writer
Published February 22, 2008
Don Reinhard, former president of the Florida State Seminole Boosters, has dismissed a libel suit he filed last year against the St. Petersburg Times and senior correspondent Lucy Morgan.
William C. Owen, the Tallahassee attorney who represents Reinhard, filed a one paragraph notice dismissing the lawsuit Wednesday.
The newspaper had written about accusations from a number of Floridians who say Reinhard bilked them out of millions of dollars with fraudulent handling of their investments.
Reinhard accused the Times of defamation and casting him in a "false light" in a story about his bankruptcy proceedings.
Sewage spill is bigger than originally thought
The size of a sewage spill on Tuesday is worse than first estimated. Hillsborough County's Water Department has raised the estimate from 10,000 gallons to 129,000 gallons spilled in the FishHawk area of southern Hillsborough County.
The county learned on Tuesday afternoon of a sewage leak about one mile west of Osprey Ridge Road. Workers have closed a valve in the pipe, which sustained a 10-inch crack, spokeswoman Michelle Van Dyke said.
Crews poured lime over the area of the pond and installed warning signs. Because an estimated 5,000 gallons of sewage spilled into FishHawk Creek, residents have been told not to touch the creek.
[Last modified February 21, 2008, 23:30:16]
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subset: commoncrawl


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Made from heat sensitive foam, the Spine Reliever Back Pain Bed Wedge is great for reading, watching TV or elevating your upper body whilst in bed. Relax the muscles and joints of your lower back by distributing your body weight across the Bed Wedge. Perfect for people who like to spend as much time in bed as possible!
Designed to help relieve the symptoms of GERD (Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease), Acid Reflux and heartburn, the Spine Reliever Bed Wedge raises your upper body to reduce the discomfort of digestive acids burning your esophagus whilst you sleep.
Ideal for people who are recovering from surgery or injury, the Spine Reliever Bed Wedge is a great addition to the bedroom or even the lounge room. Enjoy the benefits of Memory Foam - the super supportive foam that remembers and leaves an imprint of your posture to keep you from loosing that comfortable position.
The Spine Reliever Memory Bed Wedge is designed to accompany the Jobri Spine Reliever Leg Wedge which gives you a completely comfortable and relieving support system while you are getting that great nights sleep.
Jobri is a USA market leader in health and ergonomic products.


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Affluent Lifestyle Guide
Certain works of art come to represent an era. Such a work is ?Les Noces? (The Wedding). First performed by the Ballets Russes in Paris in 1923, ?Les Noces? featured a score by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Bronislava Nijinska. Their tale of a pagan Russian wedding, with Stravinsky?s devilish rhythms and Nijinska?s stark imagery, became a defining work of modernism.


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Informatics and People
My passion is the innovative application of software to unusual or novel problems, particularly where the solution helps non-technical people.
I enjoy communication, debate, discussion and collaborative work, particularly as part of a team or community.
I have worked in contrasting subject matter domains from geology to supply chain. But the richness and range; depth and beauty of geology never ceases to fascinate me. It makes the world !
Often what I discover and learn through my interest in geology, proves to be of invaluable systematic and analytic help elsewhere. It is a treasure trove.


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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Former Lawrence North star and NBA player Greg Oden will stand before a judge for the first time Wednesday.
Police arrested Oden last week after they say he hit his ex-girlfriend. He is facing charges of battery resulting in serious bodily injury — a Level 5 felony under Indiana's new criminal code — domestic battery and battery resulting in injury, both misdemeanors.
His appearance is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday in Marion County. It will be the first time he will face a judge since his arrest in Lawrence.
According to court documents, Oden, his ex-girlfriend and her friend went out drinking last week. When they got back to his mother's house in Lawrence, police say the couple started arguing. Court documents show Oden punched his ex-girlfriend in the face three times, causing cuts, swelling, and bleeding.
Police say the victim told officers she fell but that Oden ended up taking responsibility for her injuries. A relative told officers that every time the two would go out the night would end in an argument.
Oden bonded out last Thursday and was ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device.
He won three state basketball titles playing for Lawrence North High School. After starring at Lawrence North with Mike Conley where the two won state titles from 2004 to 2006, Oden played one season alongside Conley at Ohio State before being drafted number one overall by the Portland Trailblazers. His NBA career has been marred by injuries.


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("SM" or "SMIC") SM Investments Corporation SMIC SM is the Philippines' leader in the retail industry. Its chain of Department Stores spans from Luzon, to Visayas and Mindanao. For the last 50 years, it has been committed
in providing quality products and services at reasonable prices
and to meet the ever-changing needs of its customers
in a responsible and responsive manner. It is the publicly listed holding company
of the SM Group consisting of core businesses
that are dominant in retail merchandising,
mall operations and banking;
and a fast growing presence
in property development. 1958, The first company, Shoemart (also known as SM), started out as an ordinary shoe store in Carriedo, Manila. Shoemart was the largest shoe manufacturer, headed by Henry Sy. Initially, he tried to focus on planning and buying big supplies of shoes in the U.S., but then his plans began to accelerate as he transformed his ordinary shoe store into a fully air-conditioned department store. History of SM Investments His second company, SM Department Store Inc., was an extreme success. Building SM Department Store branches inside and outside Metro Manila was hard work for Sy. He made the Shoemart sign as SM, which became one of the most recognizable and universal brands of all time. Then he tried to focus on shopping malls and supermarkets as Sy bought a lot in 1978 at the northern end of EDSA in Quezon City. As he built his first mall,SM City North EDSA, by 1994, his companies were listed in thePhilippine Stock Exchange,SM Prime HoldingsInc. By 2005, the SM Investments was inaugurated to the public by focusing on industry leading, retail merchandising, shopping mall operations, banking, financial services & corporate governance. SM is the Philippines' most dominant player in retail with 193 stores nationwide. Of these, 46 are SM Department Stores; 37 are SM Supermarkets, 76 are SaveMore branches; and 34 are SM Hypermarkets. Retail SM is the Philippines' largest shopping mall developer and operator with 46 malls nationwide. The malls are owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings, Inc., a publicly listed company . SM Prime also owns 4 malls in China's second and third-tier cities, namely Xiamen, Jinjiang, Chengdu, and Suzhou. By the end of this year, SM Prime will have 48 malls in the Philippines and five in China with an estimated combined GFA of 6.7 million sqm. Mall Operations SM's property group is a fast emerging business with interests in residential, commercial, leisure and hotel development.SMDC is rapidly growing with 15 residential projects under its SM Residences and two projects under its M Place brand. Costa del Hamilo is embarking on an integrated eco-tourism project in Nasugbu, Batangas. SM is also developing the 60-hectare Mall of Asia Complex. Property SM's bank network is the largest in the Philippines with its 41% interest in BDO Unibank and 20% interest in China Banking Corp. In 2Q 2012, BDO became the country's largest bank in terms of assets with 744 branches nationwide. Chinabank is the 8th largest with 307 branches nationwide. Banking and Finance SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation forged ahead with its growth and expansion in 2010 by inaugurating the 400-room Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu in Cebu City. Hotels and Convention CSR Programs Community Outreach
Health and Medical
Livelihood Programs Community outreach Education Health and Medical Livelihood Programs Eco-tourism Programs Hamilo coast
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CSR program of SM INvestments in the Philippines
(MGT2A good governance)
roselle macalaladon 5 March 2013
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I want to really marry the public and the private sector.
|–Hillary Clinton
Talk about a shotgun marriage!
Are you sure she's not saying that she, personally, wanted to marry both of them?
When I read the headline, I was thinking "alcohol".
@advo That was my thought on reading most headlines the last 10 days or so.
I still hate Donald Trump more than I could ever hate H, as wrong as I thought she was here and on other issues. At least she was serious and told is what she thought.
trump merely echoes what he thinks will help him win, full stop. I wonder if Joe Wilson will stand up and scream "You Lie!" At Trumps first state of the union. Lord knows he's the biggest liar out of all presidents combined probably. From birtherism to saying Ted Cruz'a father helped to assisinate JFK he's obviously just a reality show president. I in my fantasy world will be waiting for Joe to rise.
Also the irony here is it's Trump who is the greatest risk of marrying the public and private sectors. You may not realize it but it's true.
This is the risk we have with Trump:
@2 Doctor Memory
Not me. I never got the impression should wanted to screw the public sector.
Trump carried the down ticket with him. They, mostly, are not planning on attending this wedding.
Or, if Trump does marry public and private then we might as well keep the celebrities that we are sending to Canada.
@khodge 9
That's a pet peeve of mine. When did we become Sore Loser Central?
As for the downticket, most places the downticket outperformed Trump. Ayotte was an exception.
The Vox article starts: "The president-elect is the least qualified man to ever hold high office."
Good example of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Landsburg: "Who else has held as high an office with so little experience in either politics or the formulation of public policy?"
Eisenhower. Unless you argue military strategy is public policy.
Barack Obama was much less qualified to be President. He had no experience in management, leadership, business, military, or dealing with foreign countries.
I should add: I'm not suggesting Eisenhower wasn't qualified, just saying that conventional political experience is neither necessary nor sufficient. I agree with Roger that Obama was highly unqualified, made worse because he didn't seem to realize it. Trump's success will depend on his willingness to delegate and rely on good people around him and not think he knows everything. We shall see.
Chester A Arthur seems a good candidate for this dishonor, even just in American terms.
Grant and Eisenhower had little experience in formulating public policy. The presidency was the first elected position for each I believe.
Newbies abound in other times and places. Vaclav Havel held high office. How many kings were crowned as children? Was Caligula qualified?
It seems to me to blandly assert that Trump is the most unqualified human ever to hold any high office anywhere at any time gives Roger's claim some credence.
The proof that Trump is unqualified is supposed to be his poor political campaign. The consensus of the mainstream media was that Hillary Clinton was going to win no matter what, and that Trump is an incompetent moron who is annoying because he is not even good enough to lose gracefully. Again and again, the press announced that Trump had alienated all of his potential voters.
The election is over, guys, and the results are in. It is time to revise your assessment of who is competent and who is not.
Roger 18
I would have thought that you in particular would agree that Obama proved being good at campaigning and being good at governing are different things.
@ Ken B,
Where's the counterfactual evidence that Obama was bad at governing? If you look a time discontinuity of our economic situation before and after his election, you would find him to be wildly successful. If you were to look at difference-in-difference comparison between the US and the rest of the world you would find him to be wildly successful (assuming you controlled for per capita income level). Maybe you think that the rest of the world isn't a good control for the United States, . I'm sure if we used synthetic control methods we'd find much the same thing.
@Khodge "Trump carried the down ticket with him."
No, he didn't. While results vary by states, e.g., GOP senators in competitive races outperformed him by an average of 2.2% last I checked the stat. I'd be very surprised if GOP reps didn't do much better compared to Trump even than senators did.
@Sub Specie Æternitatis 21,
It seems that your logic is suffering from the assumption that the voters that showed up on election day would be the same regardless of whether or not Trump was on the ticket. Suppose there are a group of voters that will vote regardless of whether Trump is on the ticket and will vote for the Republican senator, would have voted for the republican president if it had not been Trump, but do not vote for the republican president if it is Trump. Suppose also that there are a group of voters that would not have shown up on election day if Trump had not been on the ballot, but having shown up because Trump is on the ballot vote for Trump and the republican senator. Under this circumstance it is entirely possible that the GOP senators both outperform Trump and that Trump carried the down ticket with him.
@Sub Specie Æternitatis 21,
I missed that the second group must be larger then the first group for Trump to have "carried" them.
Actually the counterfactual evidence does show Obama is good at governing.
Your argument is fair enough. We cannot know the counter-factual for sure. But generally when a candidate "carries" the lower ticket, they tend to run ahead of it. This is not the pattern we are observing here.
Sub Specie:
"@Khodge "Trump carried the down ticket with him.""
I don't know how to parse that one -
@Richard D. Perhaps I am missing the joke–it has happened–but in case otherwise:
In US elections, it is sometimes alleged that the top of the ticket (i.e., the most prominent candidate on the ballot, typically the President or sometimes a governor during off-years) is so popular that he not only won, but induced enough of his followers to turn out and vote for the lesser known candidates on the same ticket that they too win on his coat-tails, so to speak.
For example, it is asserted that Reagan's overwhelming victory in 1980 help twelve relatively unknown GOP Senate challenger to prevail over incumbent Democratic senators.
And now we learn that really it was Alf Landon who lifted the downticket.
@Ken B,
Oh? You mean you have evidence from a world in which Obama is not the president from 2009-2016 and it shows the world is worse off. Please share!
Daniel: a man who, in all seriousness, talks about "counterfactual evidence" should be less snide.
@Ken B,
I think you misunderstood my statement. I meant that you had no counter-factual evidence to support your suggestion that Obama wasn't good at governing. Not that I did have counterfactual evidence. However, I did suggest that the available evidence suggests that Obama was a effective at governing.
Daniel, I rather think anyone who talks earnestly about "counterfactual evidence" either doesn't understand counterfactual or doesn't understand evidence. Do you have any square circles?
@Ken B,
That was precisely my point. You have no idea what would have happened if Obama had not been in office, because you cannot produce the counterfactual. Want to lecture me some more on semantics?
@Ken B,
My point is, when did I speak earnestly about counterfactual evidence. Again, you misread my first statement. Read more carefully.
Daniel, 20 asks for my counterfactual evidence quite straitforwardly.
@Ken B,
Ever heard of being facetious?
Didn't seem that way. Still doesn't TBH, but I'll take your word for, having had my own even heavy-handed irony missed on-line more than once. Tone often doesn't come through well on blog comments.
"Barack Obama was much less qualified. He had no experience
in management, leadership, business… "
In 2008, Obama claimed that his experience managing a
presidential campaign, qualified him for executive office.
And so in 2016… sauce for the goose, as they say in France…
Dr. Landsburg (13) said "Roger (#11): Who else has held as high an office with so little experience in either politics or the formulation of public policy?
Anyone who has completed a large real estate development project in an urban area has had plenty of experience with both politics and public policy. Where exactly does one find people with public policy formation experience? Among our professional politicians? They have demonstrated time and again that they, as a class, are as likely to formulate bad policy as good.
I would need considerable evidence, of any kind, to convince me Obama's administration gave us good governance, under any reasonable definition of 'good.' Real GDP and productivity growth has been low, and unemployment historically above average. The youth unemployment, in particular, remains stubbornly high, which is ironic, given Obama's support with young people. The public debt continues to rise at Bush speeds, which, according to Obama himself, is irresponsible and unpatriotic. I'm neutral on the Iran deal; other than that, his foreign policy seems to have produced quagmires and debacles and more tension with China. His signature legislative initiative, ObamaCare, remains troubled in respect to both popularity and results. Our civil liberties are eroding just as fast under Obama as under Bush, if not faster (Obama has pushed and defended things like indefinite detention and FISA courts more aggressively than Bush did). I agree there is a bright spot here and there, but the overall package has been a pretty terrible deal for US residents.
We now have Trump personally pressuring specific companies to not close plants.
I gather David Friedman is closer to Roger's position on Trump than to Steve's.


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My water has a hard texture to it:
Minerals in your water can build up on glassware, shower doors, fixtures, clothes or other items throughout your home. A Culligan® Water Softener, often called a Water Conditioner, will eliminate harmful minerals which can cloud or ruin your glassware. It is the most common water problem in the United States.
I have arsenic in my water:
Arsenic is a semi-metal element in the periodic table. It is odorless and tasteless. It enters drinking water supplies from natural deposits in the earth or from agricultural and industrial practices. Throughout the ages, arsenic has been used in medicine, cosmetics industry and agriculture. It has been used as an insecticide, and it still is used as a desiccant, rodenticide, and herbicide.
My water smells like rotten eggs:
Water impurities such as sulfur, iron and other chemicals will lead to rotten-egg, fishy and chlorine odors in your water. Have them removed with Culligan® whole house carbon filters, reverse osmosis (RO Systems) drinking water systems or water conditioners. Horrible tasting, smelly water can have many causes and sometimes requiring more than one solution.
My pipes look rusty:
Excess iron in your water leaves brown or red rust stains on fixtures & clothing. If you happen to see red precipitates in standing water, like toilets, or see red stains on fixtures and clothes, that means you have iron. Culligan can filter it out with the systems to prevent red stains. Iron or rust in water can be found in different forms: particle iron, clear water iron, etc.
My skin is getting dry:
Many people think that dry skin is just something you have to live with. Constant applying of lotion, creams and sometimes even medications. But did you know the #1 cause of dry skin is hard water? Think about it, if you have dissolved calcium and lime (water hardness) why wouldn't it stick to your skin? If you are seeing hard water deposits on your dishes and in the shower you can bet it is also sticking to your skin, hair and clothing.


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Live the life
Just a normal guy trying to be a good friend and to have fun (Healthy)
Reading, Riding, Internet, Country, Dogs, Friends & Travel
Mexico, off course!!!
c_salazar hasn't logged any travels yet.
INFO ABOUT MEXICO? PLACES TO VISIT, SHOPPING, TRANSPORT, PRICES, WARNINGS, NIGHTLIFE, DISTANCES, TIPS, ETC. I have the answer you're looking for...'coz I'm Mexican!!! and I love my country.
c_salazar hasn't been active in the wiki travel guide yet. Have you?


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By-laws: Tree Cutting, Blasting & Fill Adopted
At the regular meeting of Council held on the 5th day of August 2008, Council adopted By-law's respecting the regulation of Tree Cutting, Blasting and Site Alteration (Fill).
Development Capacity - Lakes in Seguin
Development Capacity of Recreational Lakes in Seguin Township - A Report prepared by AECOM Canada Ltd.
Living Sustainably in Seguin
Living Sustainably in Seguin: This handbook is for all waterfront property owners in the Township of Seguin. Its purpose is to promote sustainable living practices along the shorelines of our lakes, rivers and streams.
Visioning & Urban Design Reports
The Visioning and Design Task Forces (groups of local residents) have been appointed by Council to work with our design consultants, Brook McIIroy Urban Designs Inc. (BMI), to develop a vision for the future growth and change in the settlement areas (Foley, Humphrey, Orrville & Rosseau).
Water Monitoring and Water Quality Model


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Related Posts
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Veronica Falls: My Heart Beats
Hey music junkie! First time here? Click over to http://insomniaradio.net/subscribe/ and get all of our content (tons of music) delivered for free. Enjoy your time here, and keep it loud!
Veronica Falls comes to us from London, with a song from their 2011 self titled release, that came out two years after their 2009 formation. Enjoy!
Members: Roxanne Clifford and James Hoare, both on vocals and guitar, Marion Herbain on bass guitar and Patrick Doyle on drums and back vocals.
[via Slumberland/IODA]
Veronica Falls
"My Heart Beats" (mp3)
from "My Heart Beats"
(Slumberland Records)


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Jemima Khan keeps Hugh Grant away from Liz Hurleys' WeddingMonday, January 22nd, 2007
He is frustrated and argues again with his girlfriend Jemina Khan. Apparently, Jemina is pulling the strings and holding him back from his former partners' wedding of 13 years.
A pal revealed: "Elizabeth and Jemima hate each other so there's no way Jemima would go. Elizabeth has spent New Year in India making sure all the plans are in place. She'll be pretty miffed if Hugh doesn't come because they are still great friends but I'm sure she's mature enough to understand the situation,"
Still, there is hope for them; the British actor said that he is planning to marry his long-term girlfriend Jemima Khan in 2008. They will hire celebrity "life stylist" Nick Ede to plan the wedding.


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Retro pic of the week - Cabbage Patch Dolls
From the Deccan Herald:
They are tubby, they are chubby, they are funny and rather adorable! They are the amazing Cabbage Patch dolls that made people around the world mad about them! And went on to create the doll success story of the century! Creating record breaking sales for its company - Caleco, Inc.
In 1983 the magical Cabbage Patch Mania overtook America! Everyone was obsessed with possessing at least one Cabbage Patch Kid doll. A riot started when a crowd got fed up of waiting for eight hours to buy this doll and one poor woman's leg broke! The store manager had to use a baseball bat to save himself from the vicious crowd! In another store a crowd running madly to grab the chubby dolls, knocked down a pregnant woman. A postman in Kansas who could not get a Cabbage Patch for his daughter flew to London to buy one for her! This mad craze for a doll lasted for several years and it was hard for other companies to sell their dolls. What was so special about these chubby little newcomers? Who looked so cool and naughty and yet so innocently huggable? And where did they come from?
These unusual dolls brought in 600 million dollars in wholesale revenues for Coleco in 1985 and 540 million dollars the year before. The father of the Cabbage Patch Kids is a man named Xavier Roberts. He was the youngest of six children and his family was poor. His father died in a car accident and his mother Eula worked in a factory all day and sewed quilts at night to make more money.
Photo courtesty of igreetyou.com.


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|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|3 - 7 nights
Situated on 3 private acres, Sea Star Cottage is a charming Nova Scotia vacation home in the picturesque fishing village of Port Mouton. Set back from the road and screened by mature trees and bushes the large garden is private and safe for little ones to play. Sunlight streams in through the windows giving this Nova Scotia cottage a bright and cheerful atmosphere. Antique furnishing and modern decor have been tastefully combined to create an attractive family friendly home that appeals to both adult and child alike. The main floor features a living room, dining room, study and a fully equipped, spacious eat-in kitchen. The study is bursting with interesting books and games, while the living room is adorned with a fascinating collection of local maps and sea charts. The deck; complete with lawn chairs extends the living area and provides a vantage point to enjoy the pastoral view: a fenced pasture that is home to a family of friendly sheep. The house sleeps 6 in 3 upstairs bedrooms, 2 with double beds and the other with a queen size bed. Two of the rooms have adjoining private 3-piece bathrooms and there is another 3-piece bathroom downstairs along with laundry facilities. Bed linens and towels are provided. Other amenities include: propane BBQ and WiFi.
A wooded path leads do a private rocky shoreline with a panoramic view of Port Mouton Bay and its many islands. With rolled beach stones and large granite boulders, the waterfront is just waiting to be explored. Around ever bend is a new adventure and a new ocean view.
Driving distances are about 10 minutes to Liverpool; 2 hours to the Halifax airport and 1.5 hours to the ferry terminal in Yarmouth.
Sea Star Cottage has a one week SUNDAY TO SUNDAY rental period during the peak season (July and August) and three night minimum rental period during the shoulder seasons.
Super location for exploring the South Shore. Carter's beach was so beautiful. The cottage felt like visiting friends instead of a rental. Would highly recommend!


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Squaws take seventh place at Turtle Town Invitational
CHURUBUSCO—The Bellmont Squaws track team set 20 season personal best times Saturday at the annual Turtle Town Invitational and ended up finishing seventh in the team standings of the Gold Division.
The Squaws didn't garner any blue ribbons in the event but that didn't stop BHS coach Carl Risch from being enthused about their performance.
"I told the girls before the meet that anything over 40 points would be a great day for us and we finished with 42 (Warsaw easily won the Gold Division by nearly doubling the score of second place East Noble 141.5 to 71.5). With the kids we had at Churubusco on Saturday, we did well, real well," Risch noted, adding "a lot of the kids who wouldn't have normally had a chance to run had the ability to participate. We were really pleased with their effort."
Columbia City was third overall with 64 (Kalisha Goree of the Eagles was the top individual scorer in the meet with 27 points) followed by North Side 59, DeKalb 56, Leo 53.5, Bellmont 42, Lakeland 38, Angola 36.5, West Noble 29, Wawasee 17, and Heritage 15.
Bellmont was led in scoring by senior Cadi Faurote with 11 team points which Risch said was noteworthy since she ran three distance events. Her top performance of the long day came in the 3200 race when she recorded her first sub-12 minute outdoor run of the year and lifetime best effort of 11:50.60 to end up second behind Alexia Zawadzke of East Noble (11:43.54).
Faurote set a personal best mark in the 1600 of 5:42.60 for seventh overall and joined teammates Emily Roman, Amberly Gutierrez, and Grace Fisher in the 4 x 8 relay for a 10:49.16 finish which was good for fifth place.


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I signed up for wordpress.com a while back and it is constantly asking me to confirm my email address. I have yet to get that email. It is not going into my spam/junk folder either. I even tried to update my email address and just put in the same email that I have, and yet it still isn't working. Please get back to me soon on this because I need this for a graduation portfolio at my film school. Thank you.
The blog I need help with is patrickbabb.wordpress.com.


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What are some alternative words for unobtrusiveness?
Synonyms for unobtrusiveness
This thesaurus page is about all possible synonyms, equivalent, same meaning and similar words for the term unobtrusiveness.
Princeton's WordNet
the quality of not sticking out in an unwelcome way
English Synonyms and Antonyms
Bashfulness is a shrinking from notice without assignable reason. Coyness is a half encouragement, half avoidance of offered attention, and may be real or affected. Diffidence is self-distrust; modesty, a humble estimate of oneself in comparison with others, or with the demands of some undertaking. Modesty has also the specific meaning of a sensitive shrinking from anything indelicate. Shyness is a tendency to shrink from observation; timidity, a distinct fear of criticism, error, or failure. Reserve is the holding oneself aloof from others, or holding back one's feelings from expression, or one's affairs from communication to others. Reserve may be the retreat of shyness, or, on the other hand, the contemptuous withdrawal of pride and haughtiness. Compare ABASH; PRIDE; TACITURN.
backwardness, bashfulness, coldness, constraint, coyness, diffidence, modesty, reserve, shyness, timidity
abandon, arrogance, assumption, assurance, boldness, conceit, confidence, egotism, forwardness, frankness, freedom, haughtiness, impudence, indiscretion, loquaciousness, loquacity, pertness, sauciness, self-conceit, self-sufficiency, sociability
Translations for unobtrusiveness
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- onopvallendheidDutch
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Sen. Glenn's Amazing
Statement On 'Frasier'
From David Wilcock
Verbatim Transcript of Senator John Glenn on "Frasier" Tuesday, March 6, 2001:
"Back in those glory days, I was very uncomfortable when they asked us to say things we didn't want to say and deny other things.
Some people asked, you know, were you alone out there? We never gave the real answer.
And yet, we see things out there, strange things, but we know what we saw out there. And we couldn't really say anything.
The bosses were really afraid of this, they were afraid of the War of the Worlds type stuff, and about panic in the streets. So, we had to keep quiet.
And now we only see these things in our nightmares or maybe in the movies, and some of them are pretty close to being the truth."
The entire plot of the show was designed to support John Glenn's appearance.
Fraser was jealous of John Glenn and felt competitive about sharing airtime on the radio. In the pivotal scene, Fraser and a female character were arguing with each other inside of an isolated sound room while Glenn faced the camera directly and delivered the above soliloquy.
The entire scene had a very strange, non-comedic feeling, and seemed to have nothing to do with what the rest of the show was about.
After Glenn finished delivering the speech, he returned to the control room where Frasier and the woman were arguing.
At this point he realizes that he was being taped, and says that he needs to take the tape; he was unaware that he was being recorded and this information "can't get out to the public."
Thus, it appears that public comedy -- things the common people are relating to -- is one of the main vehicles through which the disclosure is finally being realized.
NBC has posted the clip from Frasier in which Sen. John Glenn speaks about "strange things". Watch this clip all the way thru to the end (less than 2 minutes long).
The first link is for broadband users, the second for dialup users:
Sen. Glenn was interviewed about his appearance on this episode.
The first link is for broadband, the second for dialup users:
[3/20/09: Unfortunately these links are no longer functional -- but this proves that the footage did exist, and was widely seen, at one time.]
NOTE: Sen. Glenn makes no comments about what he said on the program, only that he enjoyed doing the show.
(You'll need RealPlayer 8 for these clips. Not sure if an earlier version will work.)
(I don't watch shows like this; I was merely snoopin' around NBC's web site after reading the article.)
-- thx, Paul Seniura (in OkC)
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Having pastored for the past 15 years I have witnessed firsthand the hope and transformation that is possible through God's Word. This same hope has been witnessed by each board member of the BCA which has overflowed into an overwhelming desire to expose, encourage, and equip other believers toward biblical counseling/discipleship/soul care.
I want to personally invite you to consider how the BCA might be an aid to you in helping growth and change take place in your church.
The Biblical Counseling Alliance exists to promote biblical sufficiency, assist toward certification, facilitate training opportunities, and develop interactive Focus groups to strengthen churches, individuals, and parachurch ministries in the upper Midwest.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
"... which is the church of the living God, a pillar and foundation of the truth."
"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."
P.O. Box 212
New Prague, MN 56071


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Cookout on the BBQ, despite stupefying Texas heat? Check.
Friends & neighbors over, eating & drinking while dogs play? Check.
Peach cobbler? Check. With homemade ice cream, too.
Walking down to park for free performance by the symphony? Check.
Fireworks set to the 1812 Overture? BOOM CHECKA WOW!!!
Excellent. You may now proceed with the rest of your summer.
- Current Location:US, Texas, Houston, Harris, Travis St, 4090
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Charleston Fishing Charters
Here at Charleston Fish Finder we offer boating and fishing charters throughout Charleston SC and Isle of Palms. Our business has been in operation for 10 years now and we plan to be around for many years to come. Safety is the number one goal on all of our charters. Big fish, sore arms, and happy customers are very important but none of this matters if we don't all return to the dock safely. Our boats are equipped with all required Coast Guard safety equipment including heavy duty lifejackets, first aid kit and VHF radio communication. Powerboats are inherently dangerous so we try to take every precaution to keep everyone on board safe and sound. Learn more about our Charleston fishing charters below.
Fishing Equipment
Fishing Equipment can make the difference when it comes down to the wire when trying to land the fish of a lifetime. We make it a point to keep our fishing equipment in perfect condition so that when it comes time to wrestle with the biggest fish you have ever seen you can focus on the fight. We fish St Croix rods and Penn reels.
Charleston Charter Boats
Our Boats are very well suited for charter fishing in Charleston, SC. The Windsor Anne is a really special vessel. She is a 24′ Kenner with a sightfishing tower that is in our opinion, the perfect boat. We can run out to the reef in the morning and buzz back inshore to fish the flats in the same day in the same boat. She can carry six passengers plus the captain with lots of room to spare. She has over 30 rod holders, four stroke yamaha power and the latest in GPS electronics to keep us running smooth and ready for any fish that swims within casting distance. The Sweet Pea is a 17′ Ranger Banshee flats skiff. She is a very simple skiff that is perfect for fishing the shallow bays and creeks surrounding the Charleston area. She is very wide and very stable with a draft of 5 inches. The redfish can run but they cannot hide from this boat! She can handle two anglers and the captain.
Come along and Catch Some Memories with Charleston Fishfinder. Contact us today about our Charleston fishing charters!


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Get certified - Transform your world of work today
30 April 2007
Benoit Houle
BioWare corp.
For BioWare, the ScrumMaster is a leader and facilitator whose responsibilities are as follows:
Over the past several months, we have learned the importance of having the right person in place as the ScrumMaster. Can a ScrumMaster make or break a sprint or a release? Definitely! That's why it's important to choose a ScrumMaster who not only has the right skill set, but the right mind set as well.
Here are the attributes and skills we are looking for at BioWare when we hire and evaluate our ScrumMasters:
While choosing the best ScrumMaster is critical, remember that it's also very important to create the right working environment for the ScrumMaster to succeed: they need to be able to make decisions "stick" and they need to have the authority to remove roadblocks.
The attributes and skills listed here can be a good starting point for creating a list specific to your own company's unique needs. Choosing the right ScrumMaster is well worth the upfront effort.
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Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a us...
Death Star Officer 1: Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the universe.
Stewie (Darth Vader): That is fantastic! Terrific work! So no weaknesses at all, huh?
Death Star Officer 1: N- (considers) no.
Stewie (Darth Vader): You, uh, you hesitated there. Is there something I should know?
Death Star Officer 1: No, it's virtually indestructable, like 99.99 percent.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Uh...OK, wouldn't be doin' my job if I didn't ask what's the .01?
Death Star Officer 1: Well, I- I mean, there's this little hole, it was kind of an aesthetic choice by the architect, and if you shoot a laser into this hole, uh, the station blows up.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that sounds like a pretty big design flaw there.
Death Star Officer 1: No, no, no the hole's only two meters across.
Mayor Adam West (Grand Moff Tarkin): Well, that's no bigger than a womp rat.
Death Star Officer 1: Exactly. And even to get within range of it, you have to skim along this whole trench, it's not a big deal.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Well, I mean, I mean, can't we board it up or, you know, put some plywood over it or something?
Death Star Officer 1: Well, that would look terrible! I mean, we got to think about re-sale.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Re-sale? Wh-what are you talking about? This property is right above Sunset, the value's only gonna go up.
Death Star Officer 1: Lord Vader, your inside references to the Los Angeles real estate market haven't given you the clairvoyance to turn a profit on that condo in Glendale, nor has it-
(Vader begins choking him with the Force)
Stewie (Darth Vader): I find your lack of faith disturbing. That property is in a prime location, twenty minutes to the beach, twenty minutes to downtown!
Death Star Officer 1: (choking) There's nothing to do downtown!
Mayor Adam West (Grand Moff Tarkin): Enough of this! Vader, release him.
Stewie (Darth Vader): As you wish. (releases the officer, who collapses on the table, gasping for air) All right, so we gonna plug up that hole?
Death Star Officer 2: Yeah, we can get it done tomorrow if price is no object.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Eyuuuuh...
Death Star Officer 2: We'll get estimates.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Yeah, get estimates, yeah ha, yeah, yeah ha ha, yeah.
- Characters:
- Stewie Griffin, Adam West
- Episode:
- Family Guy Season 6 Episode 1: "Blue Harvest"
- Show:
- Family Guy
- Related Quotes:
- Stewie Griffin Quotes, Adam West Quotes, Family Guy Season 6 Episode 1 Quotes, Family Guy Quotes
- Added by:
- Eric Hochberger
- Added:


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MEXICO CITY--(Marketwire - Feb 27, 2013) - Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. (
- Reported total revenues reached Ps. 39,860 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, an increase of 10.4% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, mainly as a result of double-digit revenue growth in the Mexico & Central America division, including the integration of Grupo CIMSA and Grupo Fomento Queretano in our Mexican territories. Excluding the non-comparable effect of these territories in Mexico, total revenues increased 6.0%.
- Reported consolidated operating income grew 29.5% to Ps. 7,224 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, driven by double-digit growth in both divisions and the integration of the new territories in Mexico. Our reported operating margin expanded 260 basis points to 18.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012. Excluding the non-comparable effect of Grupo CIMSA and Grupo Fomento Queretano, operating income grew 26.0%.
- Reported consolidated net controlling interest income grew 34.7% to Ps. 4,324 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.
"Our territories across Latin America delivered double-digit top- and bottom-line growth building on the integration of the new franchises in Mexico and our operator's ability to execute in the marketplace and leverage on our value driven commercial model. Capitalizing on our financial and operating flexibility, we continued to firmly advance on our strategy to grow through accretive mergers and acquisitions -- from our mergers with the beverage divisions of Grupo Tampico, CIMSA, and Grupo Fomento Queretano, to our acquisition of a majority stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., to our recently announced merger agreement with Grupo Yoli. Altogether, this marks five transactions in the Coca-Cola bottling system in the last 18 months. Entering 2013, I am confident that our growing family of more than 100,000 proud and passionate employees will enable us to transform our industry's arising challenges into opportunities. Working together, we will continue to deliver on our commitment to help people achieve healthy lifestyles through our proactive efforts to promote good nutrition, hydration, and regular physical activity. Simultaneously, we look forward to creating economic, social, and environmental value for all of our stakeholders," said Carlos Salazar Lomelin, Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
Our fourth-quarter 2012 Conference Call will be held on February 27, 2013, at 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time (10:00 A.M. Mexico City Time). To participate in the conference call, please dial: Domestic U.S.: 800-573-4840 or International: 617-224-4326. We invite investors to listen to the live audiocast of the conference call on the Company's website, www.coca-colafemsa.com
If you are unable to participate live, an instant replay of the conference call will be available through March 5, 2013. To listen to the replay, please dial: Domestic U.S.: 888-286-8010 or International: 617-801-6888. Pass code: 88550577.
Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. produces and distributes Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Del Valle, and other trademark beverages of The Coca-Cola Company in Mexico (a substantial part of central Mexico, including Mexico City, as well as southeast and northeast Mexico), Guatemala (Guatemala City and surrounding areas), Nicaragua (nationwide), Costa Rica (nationwide), Panama (nationwide), Colombia (most of the country), Venezuela (nationwide), Brazil (greater São Paulo, Campiñas, Santos, the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, part of the state of Goias, and part of the state of Minas Gerais), Argentina (federal capital of Buenos Aires and surrounding areas) and Philippines (nationwide), along with bottled water, juices, teas, isotonics, beer, and other beverages in some of these territories. The Company has 60 bottling facilities and serves close to 315 million consumers through more than 2,500,000 retailers with more than 100,000 employees worldwide.
Please click on this link to view the full version of the Press Release on our Web Site


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How to check whether an object is an array or not in JavaScript?
JavaScript is a loosely typed scripting languages. It has objects which contains name value pairs. While in JavaScript, Array is also an Object, we can use instanceof to check the type of an object. But if there are many frames in a page, if the object is created from a frame which is not at the same global scope as window object, instanceof will not work since Array is a property of window. So how can we determine whether an object is an array or not in JavaScript?
In Douglas Crockford's book "JavaScript:The Good Parts". He proposed one method to check whether an object is array or not.
var is_array = function (value) {
return value &&
First, we ask if the value is truthy. We do this to reject null and other falsy values.Second, we ask if the typeof value is 'object'. This will be true for objects, arrays,and (weirdly) null. Third, we ask if the value has a length property that is a number.This will always be true for arrays, but usually not for objects. Fourth, we ask if thevalue contains a splice method. This again will be true for all arrays. Finally, we ask if the length property is enumerable (will length be produced by a for in loop?)That will be false for all arrays.
We can use Object.prototype.toString.call(obj)=='[object Array]' to check whether an object is an array. It works even there are many frames in one webpage.
For example:
var arr=[];
var arr=null;
In ECMAScript 5, we can find the Array.isArray() method. It wil work as expected.
//arr is an array
Sorry! You need to login first to post answer.
I can fix that
|By sonic0002
- ► What weekend projects have you created?
- ► What's your opinion about Alibaba mooncake incident?
- ► Should a CTO write code?
- ► What does it feel to have a programmer dad or mom?
- ► Should we be worried about the win of AlphaGo?
- ► Why doesn't IBM file legal brief in support of Apple?
- ► What are the big Internet events in 2015?
- ► Will Elon Musk get into drone business?
- ► What does your work cubicle look like?
- ► What are you most afraid of as a programmer?


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Cristal Cherry descends from heaven to display her angelic body on the streets of Spain. In a sheer dress, she is lead around on a leash through the center of town, until she is stood over a hot air grate a la Marilyn Monroe. Only this time, there's nothing under that skirt but pure slut. Then she is hung from a tree in the park. All the better position to whip and humiliate her. The journey continues, with a pony butt plug filling her best hole. Strangers cannot help but gawk. Why stop there? Please, look AND touch! Omar then leads her to a secluded romantic corner... to fuck her like the dog she is! Not so secluded that passersby can't take photos though. Finally, Cristal is bound on a pedestal and fucked in the most shameful positions while locals watch. It can't get more humiliating than this. Oh wait, yes it can, if you have come on your face!
Directed by: KINK.com
Starring: Omar Galanti and Cristal Cherry
Media: Original pressed DVD 5 - NTSC - 16:9 - All Region
Running Time: 61 min


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The Color Purple
Jan 02, 2018
Civic Center Music Hall
Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre
Presented By OKC Broadway
THE COLOR PURPLE is the 2016 Tony Award winner for Best Musical Revival! Hailed as "a direct hit to the heart" (The Hollywood Reporter), this joyous American classic about a young woman's journey to love and triumph in the American South has conquered Broadway in an ALL-NEW "ravishingly reconceived production that is a glory to behold" (The New York Times) directed by Tony winner John Doyle.
Event Info
Recommended for Mature Audiences
Season Subscriber?To manage your tickets, visit OKCBroadway.com or call (877) 737-BWAY (2929).
Group Tickets
Group Tickets are available for 10 or more. Call (405) 297-1586 or visit OKCBroadway.com.


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Cancer Genetics Clinic Team
Medical Director
Hematology, Oncology and BMT Fellowship
Hematology/Oncology & BMT
Physician Team
Dr. Vear is the Co-Director of the Program for Personalized Medicine and Pharmacogenomics in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Blood and Marrow Transplant at Nationwide Children's Hospital and an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Vear received her medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and completed her residency at Children's Hospital of Alabama. Dr. Vear completed her fellowship training at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is board-certified in general pediatrics, pediatric hematology/oncology and clinical pharmacology. Her research interests include pharmacogenomics, chemotherapy toxicities and targeted therapies. Clinically, she sees primarily oncology patients with a focus on leukemia and cancer predisposition syndromes.


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Falco Pacific Resource Group Issued Update on Horne Mine Project in Quebec - Video Posted on InvestmentPitch.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 6, 2014) - Falco Pacific Resource Group (TSXV: FPC) recently issued an update on the company's Horne Mine project in Quebec, Canada, part of a much larger property acquisition completed in September 2012.
InvestmentPitch.com has produced a "video news alert" about Falco Pacific based on this update. Kelly Klatik, President & CEO of Falco Pacific Resource Group was also interviewed by InvestmentPitch's Ted Ohashi, CFA. The interview is available for viewing. If these links are not enabled, please visit www.InvestmentPitch.com and enter "Falco Pacific" in the search box.
If you cannot view the video above, please visit:
Falco Pacific's genesis was from the acquisition of the remnants of one of Canada's most established VMS mining camps, the Rouyn Noranda Mining Camp, including the Horne Mine Complex area and 13 other former producers.
The company has employed a highly technical digitization and data mining strategy to move the 80 years of history into the 21st Century. The unique combination of bundling 80 years of proprietary data with modern day technology resulted in the rediscovery of the Horne 5 deposit and has created a path to a maiden compliant 43-101 Resource without the requirement of drilling a hole
Data Mining Process Identified an additional 6600 holes (460,000 metres) of drill logs around the Horne 5 deposit setting the stage for one of the industry's lowest cost Exploration and Development Programs for 2014 utilizing a low cost Data Integration and Modeling process.
The shares are trading a $0.41, and with 70 million shares outstanding, the company is capitalized at $28.7 million.
For more information, visit the company's website www.falcopacific.com or contact Dean Linden, Business Development at 425-449-9442 or email email@example.com.
About InvestmentPitch
InvestmentPitch.com, a multimedia company that provides a combined solution for creating and hosting financial video content, and distributing it across multiple platforms to investors and financial professionals, specializes in producing three minute videos based on news releases and research reports.
Barry Morgan, CFO


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#OccupyYourMind takes the time-tested practices of Yoga and meditation and integrates them into our larger social existence.
Why meditation?
Meditation is the link between spiritual awareness and social justice. Far from preaching a set of utopian ideals, at #OccupyYourMind we teach you how to use your spiritual journey as an engine in the struggle for a better world.
Start your journey today!
#OccupyYourMind runs the most affordable, low-cost meditation retreats in the country. More than just a spiritual "escape" from the world, our events aim to connect our inner spiritual journeys with the struggle for social justice throughout the world.
Follow us!
Want to learn more? Enter your email below to subscribe to our free content.


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The Dependent Magazine is a Vancouver-based publication of daring and creative works of journalism and entertainment.
Want to get involved?
Send text, pictures, videos, and crude drawings to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Saturday, 7:10am
I was exhausted – too busy dreaming of celebrity and backstage access to get any real sleep. The original correspondent slept worse, I'm sure – after having secured our first ever press passes, work prevented him from attending the festival. The job of rock-star interviewer and VIP then fell on the broad shoulders of your humble and responsible Editor.
My plan was ambitious but achievable: interviews with bands and festival organizers, a sober comparison to other events in North America and Europe, and a picture of the overall mood and scene by way of a crisp narrative.
These are the first two paragraphs from my notebook:
"The rented Prius purred silently as I drove to the house of our cute little rideshare from Paris, France. I waited ten minutes outside before she finally emerged from the basement suite, despite the warning call I had given upon leaving my house. She smelled of stale liquor and cigarettes, and had obviously been up late."
"She was friendly but a little uncomfortable with such an early morning stranger. To put her at ease I suggested she plug in her iPod. Booka Shade and idle chatter occupied us on the way to the photographer's house. He was already waiting out front, drinking a beer. His backpack was filled with the implements of photography and nothing more. He had neither tent nor sleeping bag, but he did carry a very large cooler."
Monday, 6:40am
The Fearless Photographer burst into my tent, wearing only half his pants and laughing uproariously. "Dude, we just woke up her friends!" he said.
By "friends" he was referring to the Texans who had pulled up two days earlier in a white van with wholesome phrases like, "Sasquatch or Bust," and "Time of Our Lives," painted on its sides. By "we" he meant himself and the petite 25-year-old blonde he'd been courting for the past 24 hours or so.
For me there was no morning joy. I could barely open my eyes, my mouth tasted like gasoline, and I was still wearing all of my clothes, including my hat. Instinctively, I patted at my front pocket, checking for my iPhone. It was gone. As was my wallet. My keys and passport were the only things of value I still had. Worst of all, I had lost my backpack, which contained the Fearless Photographer's driver's license and passport.
"I lost my phone," I told him.
"And my wallet."
"And my backpack."
"So it had your driver's license and passport in it."
He stopped pulling up his pants for a moment. "So?" he finally asked.
Saturday, 9:00am
The drive to the border was pleasant.
"Where are you from?" barked the officer in the booth.
"Vancouver, Canada," I said, motioning between the photographer and I, "and Paris, France in the back."
He asked the Parisian if she had a visa. She didn't understand. He thumbed through her passport and informed her that she required a six dollar stamp to enter the United States of America – something she should know. He handed us a bright orange piece of paper: "Pull into the parking – they'll tell you what to do."
A lifetime of harmless, illegal activities played out on the dirty projector in my mind. I wondered vaguely if today would be the first day that a man would touch his finger to my anus, or that I might spend the night in jail. Just as we were about to step inside the French girl seized my wrist:
"I have weed in the car," she said, desperately.
I stared at her, trying to comprehend what I had just heard. "Why?" was the only response I could muster.
She didn't respond. It was more of a rhetorical question, anyway.
Monday, 9:00am
"Well, according to my pictures the last place you had your backpack was the techno dance party," the photographer said.
"Techno dance party?" I asked, taking a small pull from my water bottle. Even water made me want to retch.
"The school bus with the DJ and the enormous pole with the LED lights on it?" he suggested.
"Must have been a different festival."
"Do you remember Moon?" he asked. I shook my head weakly. "Emily, the blonde that kept asking you to marry her?" I shook my head again. "Jesus Christ," he said. "What do you remember?"
"Eating ecstasy and getting on the back of the golf cart."
"You're worse than me," he observed, cracking another beer.
"Worse than you? Have you even eaten since we got here?"
"Only if you count bloody marys. Now, let's go find that passport, champ."
We walked for an hour, the sun beating on our backs, picking our way through the endless maze of cars and crushed Keystone Lights – the evidence of the night before. A pineapple top here, a D battery there, the occasional wild-eyed wanderer still in the grips of Molly – what the American kids call ecstasy.
"Have you seen our backpack?" we'd ask random strangers sitting with their heads in their hands at their campsites.
"Nah man," was the inevitable reply, "have you seen our keys?"
Saturday, 09:30hrs
Inside, the agent ordered the Parisian Drug Mule to place the four fingers of her right hand onto the green screen on his desk. "Press hard," he told her, but she trembled to the point that the machine couldn't read her fingerprints. He reached out and held her hand tight against the glass. It shook in his grasp.
Suddenly, the officer in the next stall spoke: "Are you eating an apple?" he asked the Fearless Photographer, incredulous. Hearing this, a senior man at the back rose from his desk and marched over.
"Are you eating an apple in front of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer!?" he boomed, "That's incredibly disrespectful!" and he turned on his heel and marched back to his desk where he dug out a plastic bag. The photographer dropped the core in and just as the supervisor was about to tie a knot, the photographer motioned for the bag again. He leaned forward and spat out a mouthful of brown apple.
He shook his head and scowled: "ugh, that part was all bruised."
I imagined the cruel penetration of my new cellmate's shiv. Jail seemed the only logical outcome.
But the border agent's physical contact with the cute little Frenchie had changed something. Or maybe it was her accent. In any case: "Sasquatch, right?" he asked.
We nodded.
"The ratio's like a hundred to one there, you know – you don't need to bring any girls," he said, smiling. And then, addressing the Mule: "Normally it's $1,000 but I'll let you go for six."
We walked towards the door, certain that it was a cruel trick and that we would be arm barred and beaten at any moment.
Instead, we drove in silence for at least twenty minutes. "How much do you have?" I finally asked her.
"Only a joint," she replied.
"Well, you better spark that fucking joint, Frenchie," the photographer said.
Monday, 1:15pm
The young woman at the lost and found did little to convince us that we would see our bag even if it was turned in. "What colour was it?" she asked, uninterested and speaking in the past tense.
"Purple," I said, weakly.
She looked around without leaving her chair. "Nope."
We traded the lost and found lineup for the espresso one. An iced mocha prepared me as best it could for the two-mile march from the campground to the venue. I paused every fifty feet to gather myself and stave off vomit. Our Fearless Photographer was somehow full of energy, calling out to all the beautiful freaks to come have their picture taken by the infamous Dependent Magazine. Body paint, feathers and neon glasses were committed to digital memory as group after group posed for the camera.
"Go be a pussy somewhere else," he told me, sensing my anguish, "you're killing the mood."
I opted for a nap on the grass beneath a tent inside the venue. What sounded like the Arcade Fire's "Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)" pulled me from a fitful, sweaty slumber. A trembling hand produced the schedule from my pocket – no mention of Arcade Fire. Was my insanity now complete? I opted not to care, joining the swaying crowd and feeling life become nearly bearable again as the band broke into a shining rendition of "Intervention".
Saturday, 5:00pm
The Mule only had a ticket for Sunday. The folks at the media check-in had been there for days already and were too weary to fight with the Fearless Photographer when he claimed the Mule was shooting video for our interviews. "Next time, play by the rules," they told us, wrapping a blue wristband around her anyway.
We walked straight to the beer tent and were directed to a man with a stack of yellow wristbands reading, "Drinking Age Verified". I handed him my passport and asked what percentage of the folks he was approving were from Canada. "85%," he claimed, "most of them are from Alberta, B.C., and what's that other one between them?"
Eleven-dollar beers in hand we strolled to the crest of the natural amphitheater. I leaned forward through the crowd and took it all in. The Mule gasped when she first saw the stage, framed as it was by ten thousand people and set against the red rock of the Columbia River Gorge. "Oh my gosh," she exclaimed in her thick French accent, "this is huge." She meant amazing. I nodded, awestruck, even having seen it all before. On the stage were OK Go – the geniuses behind the infamous treadmill video, and incidentally, our first interview.
I made my way to the press area to wait for Tim Nordwind, the fellow hopping about the stage in a powder blue leisure suit and slapping the bass while thousands danced around him. I was ill-prepared. Still, I was confident that I would be able to make it up as I went and that a minor celebrity such as he would be no match for my wit.
I was wrong:
Tim Nordwind – OK Go – Interview
Monday, 6:20pm
I fought the urge to vomit for the duration of my interview with The Heavy. I would later skip interviews with Booka Shade and Boys Noize for similar reasons. As Band of Horses played, the shakes and the heat and the guilt of losing all my valuables proved overwhelming. I resigned myself to the long walk back to the tent where I would grab a quick nap and return, re-energized and at peace with my sins, to catch MGMT and Neon Indian.
Arriving at the campground I found the Fearless Photographer playing a game of "Flip Cup" with two of our Texan neighbours. "Oh, brew!" he cried out. I couldn't see his face, obscured as it was by his hood and sunglasses, but his voice informed me that we was completely shit-faced. Apparently he had come back for a nap but the girls woke him up and demanded that he join their game.
"Did you even see a show today?" I asked.
"Oh, brew, I was so close, brew!" he said, cackling and putting an arm around the blonde at his side. She wore a tank top and skirt to his jeans and sweater. Her face paint had been smeared all down her neck and in her hair.
"Come play with us!" she insisted, drunkly.
I waved a finger and gagged at the prospect of consuming another drop of liquor and made a bed in the long grass instead. I was no match for the corn-fed charm of those girls from Texas and the relentless insults of the Fearless Photographer though. For my weakness the savvy veterans punished me with drink as I figured out how to balance the cup on the edge of the table and flip it over, to land on its top.
MGMT's "Kids" pealed from the main stage and echoed through the canyon behind us. An hour later and my brain was sufficiently lubed to be motivated again. "Let's go back to the festival," I suggested.
"I want to see Band of Horses!" exclaimed the blonde, their set long finished.
"One more game!" shouted the brunette, again.
Saturday, 9:00pm
We exited the press area and headed to the main stage where Vampire Weekend's "A-Punk" was bursting from the sound system. Neither Broken Social Scene nor The National before them had the crowd so obviously engaged. I'd never been a fan of Vampire Weekend, but the clean, African sound of those middle-class Columbia boys set something in my soul alight.
The big screens zoomed close as the lead singer laid out the crowd's responsibilities in "One (Blake's Got a New Face)". He looked more like the kind of boy that mum would like to have for dinner than the kind who'd be killing the main stage at an indie rock festival.
"For those of you who aren't familiar with our work, this one has a little call and answer," he explained. "When I sing … You sing …" and when the chorus hit and the band went silent and the crowd crooned, "Blake's got a new face," in that ridiculous falsetto, I couldn't help but join in.
It was the best moment of the festival.
Monday, 9:45pm
"C'mere," the Fearless Photographer hissed at me. He was slouched in one of the neighbour's fold-up chairs, arm draped over the blonde who was telling the brunette how great the photographer was.
"I need you to get that brunette out of here," he told me, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I don't care how you do it, but I need you to help me out here, brother – for the team," and he held out a limp fist. At this the blonde giggled and gave the group a guilty shrug.
I weighed my options.
"All right, grab your shit, honey – we're going to the concert."
"But what about these guys?" she slurred. "They have to come too!"
"They're going to meet us there," I assured her. She nodded and for the next twenty minutes buzzed about the campsite while the photographer and the blonde groaned and pleaded for me to take her away. Cathy packed provisions for a two-day expedition: leggings, blanket, jacket, sausages, chicken burgers, advil, tampons and twelve beers.
We made it as far as the portable toilets at the campground entrance, Cathy leaning heavily on my arm.
"You're cute," she said. And then: "I have to pee."
"Uh huh."
Ten minutes later she emerged, stumbled a few yards and collapsed in a heap. "Let's just watch from here," she suggested, sensibly.
I fished beer after beer from the bag and listened to the strains of Neon Indian, Ween and Boys Noize from the hill beside the toilets a mile from the stage while Cathy retched and heaved beside me.
"Are you having fun?" she asked.
Saturday, 10:10pm
A flash of our media wristbands and the three of us entered the pit just as My Morning Jacket stepped out. Four songs in and the photographer, the Mule and I exchanged a wordless glance that we all knew meant it was time to leave.
We caught the last few tracks of Z-Trip's set – the best being a schizophrenic marriage of Jay-Z and Nirvana. Beside me a shirtless man with long hair pulled a small bag from his sock. He held it open as the Fearless Photographer licked a pinky finger and plunged it in, sucking the white powder off and grimacing as he did.
We danced like fiends in the pulsing, sweaty crowd until the music stopped and we pushed our way with everyone else to the late night stage. "Why the fuck didn't you mention Z-Trip earlier?!" the photographer demanded. The Mule nodded her head enthusiastically.
Deadmau5 (pronounced Dead-mau-five to those sarcastic fans in the know) appeared to ferocious applause. With the nod of his head and flick of a switch, nasty, stinking bass burst from the speakers. It seemed especially filthy when compared to all the indie rock that had preceded it. The crowd cheered and surged. People shoved their way to the front. Young women balanced on young men's shoulders and exposed their painted breasts.
We were treated to the most fantastic light show I've ever seen – the trademark mask becoming animated as the set progressed, culminating with its freakish, glitched out face singing "Sometimes Things Get Complicated".
But it all came to a cruel and unexpected halt with a rising track that hinted at one last enormous bass drop that never came. The crowd moaned and the word "Deadmau5″ dominated the chatter of the energized masses heading back to camp for more booze, drugs or sleep.
Tuesday, 5:46am
The Fearless Photographer burst into my tent, wearing only half his pants and laughing uproariously. "Dude, I love those Texas girls!" he said.
"What's all that yelling?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"How the fuck should I know?"
"Well it sounds like your lady friend."
"Oh. Yeah. She locked the keys in the van and someone's got a flight to catch."
"Should we remind them that the batteries are dead?" I suggested.
"Let's wait a minute."
"Can I have a sip of that beer?" I asked, sitting up.
"Sure. And hey, I called the Canadian Embassy – they can't turn down any Canadian Citizen at the border."
"Excellent, now we've just got to prove you're Canadian."
"Well, if we can't I'll just wait until next year. Meet me here?" he asked, passing the beer over Cathy.
"Fuck yeah," I grinned.
"Cathy packed provisions for a two-day expedition: leggings, blanket, jacket, sausages, chicken burgers, advil, tampons and twelve beers." – you had me in tears.
I'm compelled to say that taking the he-who-shall-remain-nameless photographer along with you was your first mistake. The Mule was your second.
A very entertaining read.
the fearless photographer sounds an awful lot like someone i know.
Fucking hilarious.
You were right – slightly less savory than my rose-coloured-glasses take on unity and the tribe and community, BUT – my parents read the Gumboot.
Thanks for your comments, and for keeping it… real?
Try to stay out of trouble.
Great stuff. Love the photos. you guys got anymore we could sneak a peep at? i wasnt able to bring a camera to the fest. i love to see it again
Great read! Gonzo journalism at it's finest…I wish for your sake however that between scribbles of the mind you might have had more profound musical revelations than your moment of clarity during Vampire Weekend! Glad you had a killer time though and I look forward to reading more of your sordid tales.


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Pastèque (formerly POS-Tech) is point-of-sale software for touchscreen devices. It is designed as multichannel software with a desktop client, a mobile Android client, and a Web back office.
This is the first alpha version of Pastèque server. The server comprises the Web backoffice and the API required for the Android client.
Pastèque â Freecode
Attachment 4778


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how can i approve my toddlers vocab. skills?
Looking for other ways to get my toddlers vocab. skill to improve. i just want some advice on some better ideas or activities i can teach them.
Started by Lorencia on 04/25/2010 in Career To Stay At Home Moms
Last update on 12/09/2014 by Joanne


text: The following reply was made to PR bin/45980; it has been noted by GNATS. From: Abhinav Upadhyay <er.abhinav.upadhyay%gmail.com@localhost> To: gnats-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost Cc: gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost, netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, tron%zhadum.org.uk@localhost Subject: Re: bin/45980: Manual file indexing no longer supports compressed manual pages Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:40:44 +0530 On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 5:45 PM, Matthias Scheler <tron%zhadum.org.uk@localhost> wrot= e: > The following reply was made to PR bin/45980; it has been noted by GNATS. > > From: Matthias Scheler <tron%zhadum.org.uk@localhost> > To: gnats-bugs%NetBSD.org@localhost > Cc: > Subject: Re: bin/45980: Manual file indexing no longer supports compresse= d > =A0manual pages > Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:10:22 +0000 > > =A0On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 11:00:00PM +0000, > gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost wrote= : > =A0> Thank you very much for your problem report. > =A0> It has the internal identification `bin/45980'. > =A0> The individual assigned to look at your > =A0> report is: bin-bug-people. > =A0> > =A0> >Category: =A0 =A0 =A0 bin > =A0> >Responsible: =A0 =A0bin-bug-people > =A0> >Synopsis: =A0 =A0 =A0 Manual file indexing no longer supports compr= essed manual pages > =A0> >Arrival-Date: =A0 Fri Feb 10 23:00:00 +0000 2012 > > =A0The problem isn't related to compressed manual pages. The new tool > =A0e.g. insists on having an ".Nd" section in each manual page. > =A0Without that section the file won't get indexed. > > =A0makewhatis(8) support this kind of manual pages without problems. > > =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Kind regards > > =A0-- > =A0Matthias Scheler =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 = =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0http://zhadum.org.uk/ > Hello, Yes, currently makemandb is not able to index compressed man pages. I believe it is possible to add the support for compressed man pages in the tool, but I think a better solution would be to get the proper support for compressed man pages in mandoc itself. It would also report a lot of error for man pages which consist of nothing but simple .so macros, Joerg has sent an email to tech-pkg to fix such man pages. Any other failure apart from the above two reasons should be a strong indicator a bug in the man page. The most common source of such bug is the NAME section, as you pointed out. These pages should be fixed. -- Abhinav


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Beshear's tax reform plan gathering dust alongside eight previous proposals
By John Cheves
In 2012, having slashed $1.2 billion in state spending during his first term, Gov. Steve Beshear named two dozen people to a "blue-ribbon commission" to study Kentucky's tax code and suggest reforms to help the state budget keep pace with demand for services.
Beshear said this report would not end up like eight previous reports on the tax code since 1995, which got stuck on shelves around Frankfort to be forgotten. Ignore the skeptics, he said at a February 2012 news conference.
"I would say to them to fasten their seat belts," Beshear said. "Get ready for not just another study but for some proposals that I think can refashion Kentucky's future."
Twenty-one months later, there's no need for a seat belt.
Led by Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson, the commission spent 2012 listening to economists, taxation experts and hundreds of concerned citizens at statewide hearings. At year's end, it gave Beshear a 453-page report with scores of recommendations, many controversial, such as taxing more of retirees' pension incomes, taxing some services and raising the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 60 cents to $1.
Taken as a whole, the proposals would have added $659 million annually to the $9.5 billion General Fund that pays for schools, police, prisons, social services, parks, environmental protection and other public needs. In addition, the report would have introduced scrutiny to the $12.1 billion that Kentucky gives away every year in largely unexamined tax breaks, some dating back to the Great Depression.
Beshear thanked the commission for its work. Then the report joined its eight predecessors on shelves around Frankfort.
A handful of its ideas went into measures passed in the 2013 legislative session, such as changes in how chewing tobacco and snuff are taxed, yielding "an indeterminable impact" on revenue. The much-heralded state pension reform package partially relied on $95 million a year captured by halving one individual tax credit, closing some business tax loopholes and other minor alterations suggested in the report.
However, comprehensive tax reform — efforts to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in fresh revenue while rethinking who pays what and how — went nowhere in the General Assembly during 2013.
As the 2014 legislative session approaches in January, lawmakers say they don't expect tax reform to be revived.
"To be honest with you, I don't recall anyone being particularly enamored with it," said Sen. Bob Leeper, a Paducah independent who is chairman of the Senate budget committee. "I've certainly not had any conversations with anyone about it lately."
"I don't know if comprehensive tax reform is doable right now, given the political climate," said Leeper's House budget committee counterpart, Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford.
The General Assembly this winter will face, on the one hand, scores of groups clamoring for more money after five years of budget cuts and, on the other, an electorate with its own financial worries that does not want to pay higher taxes, Rand said.
"People just don't like new taxes, even if you explain the benefits to them, like better schools, new roads. It's hard to get past that. The easiest thing for a political candidate to say is, 'I will never raise your taxes, I will only lower them,'" Rand said.
'Disappointing grab bag'
As Beshear appointed the commission, he said he wanted a tax code that was simple, fair, efficient, competitive and elastic, with taxes low enough for Kentucky to be an attractive place to do business, yet high enough to pay for the services people expect.
Some critics thought the panel's report fell short of that ambitious goal. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C. called it a "disappointing grab bag" in a December 2012 critique.
"Some of the recommendations are timely and should be implemented, but overall, the report offers a grab-bag of provisions with little central theme," the Tax Foundation wrote. "The recommendations would raise income and excise taxes, reduce corporate taxes (primarily for select in-state businesses) and maintain a costly business property tax system with few changes. The merits and implications of this approach are not explained in the report, let alone defended as the right policy."
At present, the state's General Fund relies on a 20th-century tax code. It gets nearly three-fourths of its money from individual income and sales taxes. However, tax collection isn't keeping up with Kentuckians' modest income growth.
Among other problems, more of people's income is coming from government benefits and corporate fringe benefits, which aren't taxable. Simultaneously, Kentucky has moved toward a largely untaxed service economy — lawyers, auto mechanics, accountants and the like.
By comparison, relatively little comes into the General Fund from taxes on corporations, property, tobacco, coal or other customary sources.
This tax structure — particularly the 6 percent sales tax that raises one-third of General Fund revenue — hits poor and middle-class families harder than rich families. By necessity, poor people tend to spend most of their money buying things, with little saved or invested. A 2003 study showed that the wealthiest Kentucky families paid 7.8 percent of their income in state and local taxes, compared to 9.8 percent for the poorest families and 10 percent or more for middle-class families.
More worrisome for lawmakers, state government's average annual revenue growth shrank from 14 percent during the 1960s to 2 percent during the 2000s. Meanwhile, the state's debt is climbing through bonds and unmet obligations to the state pension system. Wall Street analysts have noticed and downgraded Kentucky's credit rating, making it more expensive to borrow money.
Unless taxes are raised or spending is slashed still further, Kentucky is on track to face a $1 billion annual deficit by the year 2020, University of Kentucky economists warned the tax-reform commission.
"Kentucky's main revenue sources are growing slower than its economy," the economists wrote in their own September 2012 report to the commission. "A continuation of this trend could seriously hinder Kentucky's ability to deliver quality education, health and other public services."
Schools suffer
Some members of the tax-reform commission said they're not ready to surrender their campaign.
"I'm still hopeful that we're going to see something come out of it. Every group that I talk to knows that we're going to have to have additional revenue to keep making progress in our state," said Stu Silberman, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a schools advocacy group.
As part of their education, commission members learned about the painful impact of spending cuts — some as deep as 38 percent — across many state agencies since 2008 while debt service payments, Medicaid and prisons gobble up larger slices of the pie.
Among the effects:
■ Basic K-12 school funding froze, which is effectively a cut because student enrollment is increasing and prices are rising, as are mandatory pension and health care contributions for school employees. Meanwhile, state aid has dried up for textbook purchases, after-school tutoring programs, teacher training and other classroom assistance.
The erosion of state support means that Kentucky's rich communities, with a stronger local tax base, can offer more to their kids than poor communities, which counted on state funding to close the gap. This year, a child in wealthy Anchorage in Jefferson County can expect $19,927 in school spending on her behalf while her country cousin in Barbourville in Knox County can expect only $8,362.
That sort of inequality was supposed to be eliminated by the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990.
■ The price for attending a public university jumped as the state reduced its support for higher education. At UK, for example, state funding dropped from about $325 million a year in 2008 to $284 million five years later, with tuition surging from $255 million a year to $339 million. For an in-state undergraduate, that means UK now costs more than $10,000 per year — up from about $7,000 in 2008.
■ State government's roughly 32,000 employees (down from about 37,000 a decade ago) have not seen a pay raise in four years, while six days of unpaid furlough in Fiscal Year 2011 meant a 2.3 percent pay cut for that year.
■ Citing an $87 million shortfall, the Kentucky Department of Community Based Services said it would stop accepting applications for a program that pays relatives to care for abused or neglected children taken from their parents. When the announcement was made a year ago, more than 11,000 Kentucky children were cared for by relatives who received $300 a month to help cover expenses.
■ The state forfeited $11 million in matching federal funds for a rehabilitation-to-work program for the disabled, resulting in 8,900 fewer Kentuckians served.
■ Kentucky's 59 public health departments struggled to deliver mandated services while their state funding declined. The departments reduced their business hours, laid off and furloughed employees and cut programs like immunization and diabetes education.
'Real people'
"We keep having these rallies in Frankfort to remind legislators that these aren't just numbers on paper when they're cutting services in the budget, these are real people with real lives who need our assistance," said commission member Sheila Schuster, executive director at Action Advocacy Network, which represents the sick and mentally ill.
"But as soon as you mention the word 'tax,' the legislators say 'Oh no, not me,'" Schuster said. "In an election year, it's unlikely you'll see a lot of them willing to stick out their necks."
In 2014, all 100 House seats and 19 of the 38 Senate seats are up for grabs. Republicans control the Senate and are making a play for the House, where Democrats narrowly cling to a majority. The following year is the gubernatorial election.
"I think there are many areas that need more funding, that aren't getting what they need, with education being an obvious one," said Rep. Dwight Butler, R-Harned, a vice chairman of the House budget committee. "Politically, however, it would take a strong will to get anything done, and I don't know who would take the lead."
Another Republican on the House budget committee, Rep. Tommy Turner of Somerset, said he agreed with Butler's assessment.
"Some people think you don't need any more taxes, some people want to raise taxes on everything, and then there are a few in the middle who want to try and work out a compromise," Turner said. "But it's not easy. There aren't many people in the middle anymore, and in an election year, that's just going to get worse."
In a prepared statement, Beshear recently said that tax reform isn't necessarily dead.
"I remain interested in implementing comprehensive tax reform to help address the future needs of the commonwealth and remain hopeful that we will address the issue during the 2014 legislative session," said Beshear, a Democrat halfway through his second and final term.
But reform won't happen unless Beshear takes charge, speaking out around Kentucky and pressuring lawmakers in Frankfort, said Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville.
Wayne, a commission member, unsuccessfully tried to pass a tax reform bill last winter, as he has for many years.
"The governor has some political capital right now, and my hope would be that he expends it to help people understand how essential tax reform is," Wayne said. "Because if we don't get it in the next session, the state budget is going to be an absolute disaster in terms of education, social services, environmental protection, infrastructure."
"Everyone has been cut to the bone and is coming to us to say they need some funding restored," Wayne said. "But we don't have it to give them. We're facing a financial crisis."
Proposals from Gov. Steve Beshear's '12 tax-reform commission
Individual income tax: $474,980,000 gained in annual revenue by taxing more pension income, limiting itemized deductions, lowering the individual tax rate and enacting a state Earned Income Tax Credit for poor people
Corporate taxes: $104,000,000 lost in annual revenue by changing the income tax formula for multi-state firms, adding management fees to calculation of income taxes, and lowering the threshold that determines the minimum amount paid for limited liability corporations from $3 million to $1 million
Sales and excise taxes: $305,800,000 gained in annual revenue by broadening the sales tax to some services, increasing the tax on cigarettes to $1 per pack, imposing a 1 percent tax on residential and business utilities, and creating new tax breaks for the horse industry
Property taxes: $31,600,000 lost in annual revenue by creating new tax breaks for the bourbon industry, freezing the state property tax rate at 12 cents per $100 of value, and exempting inventory from state property tax
Severance taxes: $2,000,000 gained in annual revenue by eliminating the export credit under the minerals severance tax
Other taxes/issues: $6,000,000 gained in annual revenue by adding reviews every five years of all tax incentives and tax breaks to see if they're worthwhile and imposing the pari-mutuel tax on advance deposit wagers made on live races held at Kentucky racetracks
Simplicity, compliance and tax administration: $5,920,000 gained in annual revenue by allowing non-renewal of professional licenses, driver's licenses and vehicle registration for non-payment of taxes; updating use tax notification and compliance requirements for remote vendors; and extending the number of days to protest an assessment to at least 60 if not 90
Total General Fund impact: $659,100,000 gained in annual revenue
Filed Under: Bob Leeper • KY General Assembly • Rick Rand • State Government • Steve Beshear


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Nicole Adams brings rich global perspective to Rocky River second graders
MONROE – Nicole Adams always wanted to be a teacher, but little did she know she would get the chance to teach in five different countries on four different continents.
After teaching in England, Uganda, New Zealand and Canada, the native of Trenton, Ontario, is bringing a rich global perspective to her second-grade students at Rocky River Elementary.
Adams first spent time overseas studying in Australia as an exchange student while working on her teaching degree, followed by a visit to England. Because teaching jobs in Canada are hard to find, Adams decided to apply to teach in England and spent two years there as an international educator.
Following three months of volunteer work in South Africa, Adams secured a teaching job at an international school in Uganda. For two years, Adams taught students of more than 50 different nationalities, including diplomats' children and children of high-class Ugandan families.
"That was just so cool to have kids from all over the world," Adams said.
Subsequently, she spent another two years teaching in New Zealand, which she loved.
In 2010, Adams returned to Canada and taught for one year at a school on an Indian reservation – the only teaching job available.
After a trying year dealing with difficult students, Adams applied to the Visiting International Faculty program. She considered working as a VIF teacher several years prior, but due to the poor economy, the program was not accepting any new teachers at the time. Fortunately, Union County was bringing in a wave of VIF teachers for the 2011-12 school year, which led Adams to Rocky River Elementary.
"I'd gone off to all around the world, but I hadn't really explored much in North America," she said. "It was time to start seeing a little closer to home, so I gave the States a shot."
After experiencing so many different cultures, coming to America was fairly easy. But she had to adapt to using a stricter curriculum and less inquiry-based learning.
In her previous teaching experiences, Adams incorporated more projects and interactive learning in the classroom, as opposed to the heavy emphasis on testing here in the States.
Based on her experiences, Adams believes the inquiry-based learning is more effective and would like to see more of that incorporated into American education. "(In the States), it's test, test, test, and not every kid does well on a test," she said.
Having taught virtually all elementary school subjects, Adams tries to incorporate a little bit of global learning into each different subject. Her students have adopted Australia as their country to study for the year. They've compared landforms of different countries and continents. They've also worked on their language arts skills through reading postcards from their "traveling friend" (several of Adams's contacts throughout the world who send postcards from their own country).
"We're not trying to do something big and huge on top of something else, but trying to take what we're already having to do and just bring the global (perspective) into it," Adams said.
Adams said she has thoroughly enjoyed the North Carolina weather and being close to the mountains and the beach. An avid hiker, she frequently drives 40 minutes to hike at Crowder's Mountain, and has enjoyed playing on a soccer league.
The thing that has impressed Adams the most about education in North Carolina is the dedication the teachers show to their students and their job.
"Teachers here work harder than I've ever seen teachers work anywhere," she said.
Adams plans to return to Canada at the end of the school year. Although she isn't sure what the future has in store, she undoubtedly will take what she learned here in the States wherever she goes next.
"It's been a great experience," she said. "I'm glad I came for that, and for the people I met."
Featuring our Visiting International Faculty
Union County Weekly is shining the spotlight on some of our school's teachers taking part in the Visiting International Faculty program. Teachers from across the world can join the program and be placed at a school in the U.S. for a few years as part of a cultural exchange for both teachers and students.


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Thanks to all who have written in about today's Impromptus. I thought I would offer a sampling of mail. One reader says that she believes that Jaime Herrera, just elected to Congress from Washington State, is the first member of Congress to have been homeschooled "since the olden days, when homeschooling was common." Interesting.
By the way, Jaime Herrera is a woman. Has there ever been another female "Jaime"? Maybe she pronounces it "Jamie."
I will just continue giving the mail, without saying what the mail responds to. (Column-readers know, or can guess.) A reader writes, "My wife's family on her mother's side were among those people who fled Sweden in the 1800s, owing to famine. When we visited Sweden, we heard countless tales about the famine, and about how nearly every male child had to leave the country or starve."
A reader says — has occasion to remember — "I lived in Israel for a couple of years just after the Yom Kippur War and one day was in a bookstore in Haifa with a friend, a woman who had been kicked out of Poland in 1968 when they had an anti-Semitic purge. She looked at one book titled 'The American Police State' and said, 'This is a joke, yes?' I assured her it was not, that the author advanced the notion that the U.S. was a police state. My friend snorted, 'I'd like to see him spend one day in real police state, then.'"
Oh, yes. I have had thoughts like that many, many times.
In my column, I have a little item on grammar, and a reader writes, "'Parallelism,' my high-school English teacher constantly admonished, so frequently that we made fun of him. But the lesson stuck."
Finally, there is a long letter that I wish to share with you. I'll do a little "Keep reading" thing, because, as I said, the letter is long — but well worth the time, I think. In Impromptus, I tell a story about a man who bent down to pick up a penny. This item has occasioned a lot of mail, actually. And here is the letter I wish to share:
Dear Mr. Nordlinger,
I had a father who almost always picked up trash on the street when he came across it. During all the moments I witnessed these acts, it never occurred to me to ask him why he did it (when virtually everyone else ignored the stuff).
Thirty years later, out on a run in my neighborhood, I saw some trash and was moved to pick it up. It happened that I had recently been fired from a position despite the fact that I had performed extremely productively. I was in a state of mind that had me wondering about my worth. It occurred to me that, despite being unemployed, I could still be a good father, husband, friend, and citizen. Before, I might have done what my father did, with regard to trash, unthinkingly. Now I was doing it to soothe my soul, so to speak. If all I did was improve my neighborhood an iota, I figured I was still "productive" and "worthy."
A silly little mind game, sure. However, that perspective helped me manage my period of unemployment and, I believe, helped me in the interviews that finally secured a much more lucrative new position.
But that's not the end of the story. I continue to pick up trash, which means I keep an eye on the ground. As you can imagine, I've come across a fair amount of coinage and also bills, which I've always considered God's little way of "repaying" me (not that I ever needed such "encouragement"). Recently, I found a diamond earring. Unable to determine its owner, I gave it to my wife, who was happy to receive it, and wears it happily around her neck. Value? I have no idea, but what it represents to me is incalculable.
So I guess you could say my father's humble civic actions turned out to be an immensely important gift to his son. It helped me get through my biggest professional challenge and led to a change in perspective which has fortified me for the last 20 years.
How do you like that? Not so much a letter as a testimony.