text:
Most Precious Blood Guitarist Planning to Run for Office in 2012
Life as a touring musician makes one yearn for the comforts of home. Only Indecision and Most Precious Blood guitarist Justin Brannan is taking it a step further. The guitarist, who has been a banker, bouncer and radio announcer, is considering a run for the New York State Senate in 2012.
"I began to appreciate coming home to my neighborhood and New York City as a whole," Brannan told Noisecreep. "Sometimes absence does make the heart grow fonder. Now that Indecision and Most Precious Blood aren't touring as much, I started getting more involved with civic groups and different neighborhood activist clubs."
Brannan also said, "Getting into politics was just a natural progression for me. It was never something I dreamed of doing. But then again, I barely sleep, so there isn't much time to dream. There is only time to do." While many hardcore and metal musicians flap their gums about change and affecting society, Brannan is taking the old adage 'Well done is better than well said' and turning it into reality.
"I gained an absolutely priceless education on the road, touring the world, and it most certainly contributed to my ability to move on to new challenges," Brannan said. In addition to his potential Senate bid, he and his girlfriend are starting an art school for Brooklyn kids. "We want to give back to the community and keep punk rock alive," he said. "And by punk rock I mean doing whatever you want. There are no rules. No lines to color inside."
Brannan is still in the planning stages with the political bid, but he's got his eye on the prize. "In the world of politics, I'm still young and have a long way to go. In the world of hardcore, I'm a senior citizen," he said.
As for the platforms he is considering, Brannan views Albany as "the poster child for political dysfunction," which is why he's gunning for a Senate seat. "There is arrogance and complacency — an unfortunate symptom of incumbents going unchallenged and unchecked for years on end," he reasoned. "There was a time when the Empire State was the model of efficient government throughout the country — responsible for some of the brightest government programs around. Today, our state government has been dubbed the most dysfunctional in the nation."
He points out that the state's leaders are mired in the muck of rumors and scandals, corruption and collusion when they should be working together to solve problems and create solutions. "We the people have been consistently shortchanged by those we've bestowed the responsibility of representing our interests and our children's interests. Rather than fighting for us, they have fought to maintain their own power and personal privilege," he said.
Furthermore, Brannan said, "I believe in common sense over politics and job creation over stimulus checks. I'm for tax breaks and incentives for small businesses and companies so they can create new jobs. I believe we need to reboot Albany and stop looking to New York City to fund New York State. I represent progressive Brooklyn: forward-thinking, diverse and dynamic Brooklyn, a Brooklyn that remains a unique melting pot of all cultures, faiths and languages, truly a home to everyone from everywhere."
Thanks to Tara from Disembodied for the news tip!


text:
The best-selling novelist discusses her new book Goddess of Vengeance and shares the real-life horror that brought her face-to-face with an Uzi.
Novelist Jackie Collins
Tavis: One of the reasons I love getting out of this studio and traveling around the country and, for that matter, around the world whenever I can is that I never know who I might run into. So I'm in New York City the other day having lunch and I look over in the booth next to me and, bam, Jackie Collins is there [laugh] and here we are back in Los Angeles.
Jackie Collins: Here we are.
Tavis: And she's on our show because we met at a restaurant in New York City.
Collins: Yeah.
Tavis: She is, of course, one of the biggest, one of the best-selling, novelists in the history of the world with so many of her books now serving as the basis for films and miniseries. Her latest is called "Goddess of Vengeance." Jackie Collins, an honor to have you on this program.
Collins: I'm so happy to be here.
Tavis: That timing was just propitious.
Collins: It was great, wasn't it?
Tavis: Your book is out, we're at the same restaurant, and here you are.
Collins: Yeah, I know.
Tavis: I love it, I love it. 400 million books sold?
Collins: I've been doing it a long time.
Tavis: But 400 million?
Collins: That's a lot and in 40 different countries and I've never been out of print. That's why the number keeps on building.
Tavis: Right.
Collins: Right now, I'm very popular in Russia. They just reissued all my books and I went over to Moscow last year which was fascinating. You know, the signings that I did there, all the kids that came out, they were all like 20-somethings. None of the old people came out. It was great because they love to read about, you know, what is going on in America without getting the propaganda of what they read in the newspapers.
Tavis: But you get some credit for that. One of the things that I didn't know about you until I started researching for our conversation, well, I assume from your stuff that you are in love with pop culture.
Collins: Absolutely.
Tavis: But pop culture, and you tweet all the time, and the references that you make are so present day. So a lot of this notion of young people coming out in Russia to see you has to do with the fact that you are very good, obviously, at situating yourselves and your narratives in ways that they can relate to.
Collins: Well, absolutely, because I write all colors, all sizes, all nationalities, all sexual orientation. So if you pick up one of my books, there is something for everyone and I make sure that I do that because, you know, we live in a world where – I mean, I live in a world where everybody is like that.
A lot of authors write their own particular narrow world, but I see everybody. I'd like to say that, when I was a kid growing up, I read Charles Dickens and he created so many different characters and so many different levels of society and I love to do that in my books.
So I've created everyone from Lucky who is the strongest heroine around and Gino who, of course, came to America at the beginning of the last century when he was 13 years old and I wrote about him from that.
He went through prohibition and Vietnam and early Las Vegas where he built a hotel and finally he had this fabulous daughter, Lucky, and her brother was gay and she said, "I'm gonna take over the family business" and he said, "No, my son is." She said Dario was gay which, of course, drove him crazy at the time…
Tavis: Stop! [Laugh]
Collins: I'm telling you too much. You know what? That's because I'm a storyteller.
Tavis: No, I love it, I love it [laugh]. There's a whole lot in here.
Collins: Yes, there's a whole lot in there.
Tavis: I'm being funny saying stop, but you are throwing so many facts out. I'm always fascinated by novelists. I've said many times on this program that I have great respect for novelists. I've written 15 or 16 books, but I'm writing stuff about real stuff. The challenge for you is to create stuff and to invent. How do you create all this stuff?
Collins: It's so funny that you should say that you're writing real stuff because, when Kitty Kelley wrote the biography of Frank Sinatra and I had a book out at the time called "Hollywood Husbands," Frank sent me a note and it said, "Jackie, you are writing fact. Kitty Kelley is writing fiction." [Laugh]
Tavis: That's a great story, yeah.
Collins: I saved that.
Tavis: I like that.
Collins: He signed it Francis Albert.
Tavis: He signed it Francis Albert.
Collins: Uh-huh. That's what he used to call himself, Francis Albert, yeah.
Tavis: But you do create this stuff.
Collins: I do create it because I read everything. I'm a pop culture junkie. I know what's going on everywhere and I like to create a kind of what is going on in the world today. For instance, there's a very bad character in "Goddess of Vengeance," Armand Jordan.
Tavis: I love that name, Armand Jordan.
Collins: Armand Jordan. I created him because I created this fictitious country and I wanted to show – I just picked up the "New York Times" and read this story about a woman who was going to be buried up to her neck and stoned to death in a Saudi Arabian country for adultery.
Tavis: I read that same story, yeah.
Collins: I was so disgusted by it that I wanted to create a villain that came from a fictitious country that I invented, but had these kinds of opinions about women, that they were just there for baby-making and love-making and that was it, and had no respect for them. You know, he comes to America when he's eight years old, but he has to go back – he's a prince – every year for the king's birthday. So he's brought up in this kind of atmosphere.
So that's where the inspiration for that character came from. Even today in Saudi Arabia, they're just about to lash a woman for being caught driving. Can you believe this?
Tavis: But Lucky Santangelo is not that woman. She's got beauty and brains and strength.
Collins: Yeah, and women love her because she does say all the things they would really like to say. But she gets away with it and she does all the things they would really like to do and she gets away with it.
Tavis: Yeah. How much – and I mean this sincerely and seriously, how much of writing a character like Lucky Santangelo has to do with your interest to really make a social statement, but to do with a narrative that is entertaining? Am I making sense here?
Collins: Yeah, you're making absolute sense because I get so many girls – I've got a message for women out there and that is girls can do anything and Lucky shows that they can. In fact, I was held up one night. I had an Uzi in my face and a guy saying – I won't use the language that he used, but he says, "Don't move, BLANK, or I'll blow your BLANKING head off." I'm like writing the Lucky miniseries at the time and she gave me strength.
Tavis: This is in real life?
Collins: Oh, this is in real life, yeah. So she gave me strength to escape from that situation because the guy was all masked and he had so much hate in his voice. She gives women strength, other women, just not me.
You know, they'll write to me and they'll go, "I broke up with my boyfriend and I was lying on the floor in the bathroom crying and then I thought, what would Lucky do? I'm gonna get out there and I'm gonna be back in life." She gives women strength. She really does. So I love creating a character like that. She's like a James Bond for women.
Tavis: How does Jackie Collins find herself in real life with an Uzi in her face?
Collins: Well, I was at a party in Beverly Hills and I was coming home.
Tavis: They have Uzis in Beverly Hills?
Collins: Yeah, oh, yeah. Well, the guy had it, you know. Actually, I was with – one of my best friends is Joanna Poitier who is married to the fabulous Sidney Poitier. I love him dearly.
Tavis: I love him dearly and love her as well.
Collins: I'm going to his daughter's wedding on Saturday.
Tavis: Wonderful.
Collins: She was in the car with me and my husband was in the car with me. I was taking Joanna home. At the time, they lived in a house that had a very long driveway and, in Beverly Hills, everybody's got these like codes you have to kind of dig into them and you can never get anybody's code in right.
So we're kind of laughing and I'm trying to put the code in to her house and this guy suddenly – we see the car go by and it's a quiet street and then we see him turn around and come back. I said, oh, it must be tourists; they're lost.
The next thing, Joanna is screaming, "Get out of here! Get out of here!" and the guy appears at my window because my window is open because I'm trying to do the code and he's literally inches from my face.
I did get out of there, but afterwards I was a wreck because everybody said, "Do you know how quick that trigger could have been?" He had a partner with him; they were both masked. So it was in Beverly Hills, yeah, thank you, behind the Beverly Hills Hotel. Nowhere is safe.
Tavis: Have you had experiences like that or others in your life that have found their way into your books?
Collins: Yes. I definitely have. You know, that was one of the more dangerous ones. But, you know, everybody thinks that I lead a very glamorous life. I've written 28 books and they're all about different kinds of aspects of rags to riches, people who have everything, people who have nothing that get everything.
But in my own life, yeah, my first husband was a drug addict and I had to go through that when I was a teenager and that was a very difficult situation, but it made me very clearly see what drugs can do to people. He eventually killed himself, which was very upsetting. I had a little girl, a little child, and then my husband that I was married to for over 20 years got ill and I had to nurse him through a terminal illness.
So I try to put these things in my books. I mean, I have the carjacking in one of my books. I can't remember which one. I've never faced terminal illness in one of my books, but I will because I know it will help people out there that have gone through the same experience.
Tavis: I want to go back to your youth, if I can. You were married really young, as you just intimated a moment ago.
Collins: Yeah.
Tavis: But let's go back even farther than that. Before you got married really young, you got kicked out of school.
Collins: I loved it.
Tavis: You talked earlier about all the young girls around the world who love to read your works.
Collins: Yes.
Tavis: Tell me about why at 15 years of age, you were expelled from school?
Collins: Oh, I was expelled from school for various reasons [laugh]. One was that I waved at the resident flasher who would flash us little girls when we went to play tennis and I'd go, "Wow, cold day today, isn't it?" So they thought this was disgusting. Then I played truant all the time and forged notes from my mother, "Oh, Jackie has a really bad strep throat."
But I had a great imagination. I was always telling everybody that I was really American, that my father was in the CIA and that we were undercover, so I would not come to school a lot. I would get away with that excuse for the other girls.
Tavis: So you were creating stories even then.
Collins: Yeah, and I would sell my stories.
Tavis: You were ahead of your profession.
Collins: I was ahead of it, yeah. I had a friend who came to school when I was 13 and she was 15 and she taught me a lot of stuff. I would go out of my window every night. I was a wild child. I'm lucky it wasn't today because I probably wouldn't have survived, but it made me very street smart.
So by the time I came to Los Angeles at 15, I was totally street smart which I loved. I burnt my school uniform, my parents said, "Reform school or Hollywood." I had an older sister who was making movies with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward and I said, "I think I'll take Hollywood." So I arrived here at 15 and it was fantastic.
Tavis: I love how you said, "I had an older sister."
Collins: I have an older sister.
Tavis: I mean, like we don't know who she is. It's so funny how you said that. Joan Collins.
Collins: Yes.
Tavis: So you come here at 15 and you're staying with Joan? Joan's taking care of you?
Collins: Well, she met me at the airport. This is a true story. It's so bizarre. She's just off to go and do a movie with Harry Belafonte in the Bahamas. She says, "Here's a list of people that can help you. Here's the keys to the apartment. Learn to drive. You're just about to be 16. I'm off on location."
So here I was in Hollywood by myself, street smart, though, so that was good. I actually wrote about those days because we lived in a kind of an apartment that was like Melrose Place. Everybody was around the pool; everybody was like pumping gas and parking cars and trying to be actors and actresses.
So I lived there and that gave me a great insight and I wrote about it in "Hollywood Wives" which was the book that really put me on the map in America, although "Chances" came before that and that was the 10th best-selling book in America for the year, so that was good.
Tavis: Did you ever attempt to do that? Did you get pulled into that acting world or at least try it?
Collins: I had some adventures in Hollywood. Let's put it that way. I mean, I wasn't a bad-looking kid and I would do some like bikini shoots in like Griffith Park and end up with some kind of cheesy photographer. Then I would go to get the pictures and the landlady – this is not a true story.
On Hollywood Boulevard, the landlady said to me, "I'm sorry, dear, he's not here. He's been arrested. He's a serial killer." I mean, what? I mean, crazy things like that would happen to me.
You know, I went back to England after a year and I was in a few movies as a teenager, but I always considered myself an out-of-work writer who was gaining fabulous experience both sides of the camera because that's what interesting. That's what makes a strong woman. You have to have confidence in what you do.
Tavis: When did you know that this was your vocation, that writing really was your calling and your gift?
Collins: Well, I kept on telling my family this ever since I was eight years old. They kept on saying to me, "Oh, forget about it. We're a show business family." My father was a theatrical agent. Then when I was 15 and thrown out of school, I said, well, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to write. They said, "You can't. You've got to go to college; you've got to get degrees. Nobody in our family has ever written. Forget about it." So I was never encouraged.
But then when I met my second husband – the first one was the drug addict – the second husband said, "What do you do?" By that time, I was in my early 20s and I said I'm a writer. He said, "Well, what have you written?" I'd written, oh, my gosh, like 50 books, but I would get like to 20 pages and then go on to another book because I knew I would never get published and I had no confidence in the fact that I would get published.
So I gave him the first manuscript that I had at that time, which was "The World is Full of Married Men," and he said, "That's a really great story. You've got to finish it." He was 20 years older than me and very smart, so he encouraged me.
He was American and he really encouraged me and was the first person that said, "You can do it." So I did it. I finished the book and it was published and, within two weeks, somebody in one of the English papers said, "This is the most shocking book I have ever read" and it was number one within two weeks. Yeah, so that was a cool start.
Tavis: There's so much you've just said now. I want to go back and unpack two or three things you've just said.
Collins: I talk too much, don't I?
Tavis: No, no. For a talk show host, this is my dream [laugh].
Collins: Oh, good [laugh].
Tavis: You can never talk too much on my show. I love this. So why were you married so young and how young were you when you got married?
Collins: I was 18 when I married my first husband because I'd been around. I mean, I'd been this wild child in Hollywood; I'd been this wild child in London. I lived in Rome, I lived in Italy, I lived in the south of France. You know, I met this guy and he was fantastic.
My first husband was ten years older than me, fantastic guy. On our second date, he said, "Pack a toothbrush. We're going to the south of France." That's what we did. He would just like hire planes and we'd go off and it was all very glamorous, but he was a big gambler and he was also – today it would be called bipolar. But he was a manic depressive.
So what would happen, he'd be pausing and having a fantastic time and it would be great and then he would go into a depression and he went to a psychiatrist who put him on tomethedrine, which is today called speed, and became addicted. The psychiatrist was addicted, he was addicted and it was something that he could never get over. I mean, he would be in and out of psychiatric hospitals. There was no rehab then, you know, it was way back in the 60s.
Tavis: Did the experiences that you had early on ever threaten to turn you off to marriage? You write so much about relationships. Were your own experiences experiences that turned you on or turned you off to those kinds of male-female relationships?
Collins: That's such an interesting question. I think I believe in marriage, but I believe in doing everything you want to do before you get married so you are never looking out there and saying, "Oh, I wish I'd done that" because you've done it, right?
I believe in being faithful. The late Louie Malle who was married to Candy Bergen was making a miniseries of one of my books. He came up to me on the set one day and he said, "You know, Jackie, you are a raunchy moralist."
Tavis: A raunchy moralist.
Collins: A raunchy moralist, and that's exactly what I am. My books are very raunchy, but you'll see in the books that, if somebody's married and they're cheating, they're gonna get their comeuppance because I do believe in being faithful in a marriage. I think it's important. Otherwise, why get married?
Tavis: Right. What do you make of the fact or why in fact did your books become hits in Europe first and then the U.S. later?
Collins: It's very difficult to have a hit in America if you don't come over and spend time in America. In that time, I was living in London. I was married to my second husband. I had three little girls, three children, and I was very happy there because my books were big hits in Europe and England.
But then one day I woke up – and my husband was American; he was from Philadelphia – and I said, "You know what?" He said, "What?" We had this great house, dogs, kids, school, everything. I said, "I want America. It's not enough that I go over there and, you know, do the Johnny Carson Show and a couple of shows and come home to London." I guess he said, "Okay, if that's what you want, we'll do it."
We took the kids out of school, the dogs, we packed up our house and we traveled across America to Los Angeles. We lived in the Beverly Hills Hotel until the money ran out. Then we rented a house and then I hit it with "Chances" which was great. But you have to be in the country that you want to be successful in. That's just my opinion.
Tavis: Okay. So if you have to be in the country to be successful in that country, then what happens in your career later on, Jackie Collins, where you can write a story that is universally accepted, that sells around the world at the same time?
Collins: Because America is the world.
Tavis: Oh, okay.
Collins: Yeah, America is number one. I love America. I think it's the most wonderful country in the world and I think that, if you are number one in America, then the rest of the world accepts that. When you look at all these people who complain about America, what are they doing? They're reading American books, they're watching American movies, they love Brad Pitt, they love George Clooney, American music.
Tavis: Jackie Collins.
Collins: Yeah, thank you. Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Drake, you know, that's what they love and they're all complaining about America and bitching about America, but they love everything American.
Tavis: How important, though, is it for you to be sure that in your storytelling that all the characters aren't American? That might turn people off, I would think.
Collins: Oh, no, because I write so many different characters.
Tavis: Exactly, yeah.
Collins: I mean, you know, he's a Middle Eastern man in this book and then, in the previous book, I put a little bitch girl. I had various nationalities and, in "Lovers and Players," there was this girl from the Ukraine. I love writing about different countries.
Tavis: That's my point, though. You could not write a book successful around the world if all the characters were just Americans. You couldn't do that consistently.
Collins: No, but I wouldn't want to do that.
Tavis: Precisely, yeah.
Collins: Because that's not the world that I live in. I mean, I know everybody and see everybody. I never write a place that I haven't been to or things that I haven't really experienced or know about firsthand.
Tavis: So to your point now, do you ever get the notion to say, "I think I want to write about this place" so you pack up your bags and you head off to that place to spend some time?
Collins: That's a good thing about being single. You can do that [laugh] and I do. I kind of live my life like a single guy, you know, when I was growing up.
Tavis: That's funny [laugh].
Collins: Yeah, but it's good. When I was growing up, my father would have Playboy beside his bed and I would take this Playboy and I would go, "Hey, great apartment, great car, great sound system. All these guys have got it going on." So now I have it going on [laugh].
Tavis: I read this somewhere and I want to be sure that I'm right about this. This is a somewhat dense novel here. You still write old school longhand?
Collins: Old school longhand, and I love every second of it. I love creating the characters. I have no idea what they're going to do, where they're going to go in the book. So every time I sit down and I pick up my pen – I have a black felt pen, yellow legal pad. Then after I finish the book, I will have it leather-bound which is so much fun. But this book was 2,000 longhand pages, yeah.
Tavis: How many legal pads would you guess?
Collins: Oh, I don't know.
Tavis: You have no idea?
Collins: No, no idea, but I do a lot of stuff on the computer. As you said, I'm Jackie K. Collins on Twitter and I've got my website and I've got over 100,000 fans on a Facebook page. I love being on the computer, but for writing, no, no. A real writer, I think, writes by hand. You probably write on the computer, so I've insulted you [laugh].
Tavis: No, you have not. I asked that question because I still write longhand.
Collins: Oh, you do?
Tavis: I can't do it on computer.
Collins: I know. Nor can I.
Tavis: I can't do it, yeah. Of course, I'm not writing stuff this thick either, but still I can't do it on computer.
Collins: There's something about it. You've probably got nice handwriting?
Tavis: I have horrible handwriting, but I write longhand because for me it just feels organic.
Collins: Exactly.
Tavis: It doesn't feel, you know…
Collins: No, no. It doesn't feel processed.
Tavis: Exactly.
Collins: And a lot of writers, you know, they map out their story. I don't do that.
Tavis: Hold on, hold on. You don't map out the story?
Collins: No. I have no idea.
Tavis: So you just start.
Collins: Yeah, I just start.
Tavis: And you just go with it?
Collins: I have the title of the book and the character.
Tavis: In other words, you write like you live.
Collins: Yes, a little bit on the edge.
Tavis: You just go for it, yeah.
Collins: Yeah. But, you know, my books are like life. I never wind the book up unless it's a murder, unless somebody gets killed. I don't really wind it up. I could pick any one of my 28 books up and I could continue the story because that's life, isn't it? Relationships?
I call them relationship books, yeah, and Lucky, of course, will go on forever. Now she has her daughter, Max, and her handsome son and, you know, she has a half African American brother, yeah.
Tavis: I have been on planes many times, in hotels, on vacation at resorts and I see – I want to be kind about this – I see the elite of our country and the elite of our world and they're sitting there with a Jackie Collins book doing like this. Does that tickle you?
Collins: Yeah, I love it, I love it. Although I'll sometimes be on a plane and somebody will be reading one of my books and they don't know it's me there and they'll put it down and I'll think, "Why are they putting it down?" They've got to pick that book up again, yeah [laugh].
Tavis: I got caught reading this Jackie Collins book, yeah.
Collins: Well, my biggest critics are the people who've never read me. It's so amusing because sometimes a reporter will be sent to interview me and they'll arrive and they'll plump down the book, maybe it's "Goddess of Vengeance," and they'll go, "This was a really good story."
I can hear the note of surprise in their voice and I know that they were like a Jackie Collins virgin and then suddenly they're converted [laugh]. Then they want to read other things, you see.
I've got kids reading. They read me at 15 and they say, "I've never read a book before and I picked up "Chances" or I picked up Lucky and it took me on such a trip that I'm now gonna read all your books."
Tavis: You know what's funny about that, and it's really not funny, I just did a special for PBS a few weeks ago called "Too Important to Fail" just like the banks were too big to fail. The special was called "Too Important to Fail" and it was a special specifically about the crisis of Black boys in our education system, how left behind they are being. They're being so left behind.
The thing I heard over and over and over again in these conversations, Jackie, is that these boys fall out of love or never fall into love with reading around the third or fourth grade and the primary reason was is that they don't see themselves in the narrative. You get this, don't you?
Collins: I do get this.
Tavis: If you don't see yourself in the story, you don't develop a love of reading. So your fans can find themselves oftentimes in the narrative.
Collins: I have a huge African American audience. I do signings all the time and 50% of the people who come to the signings are African American, which is great for me because, in "Chances," I created the family of Carrie who I really based on an early Billie Holiday because Billie Holiday had such a terrible life and she was in Riker's Island and she was a prostitute for a while and all of that.
So I kind of based Carrie on her and then I created the family of Carrie and then she became one of the biggest society women in New York society. But she had the son, Steven, who turns out to be like his half brother. So I've always created people of color or any kind of…
Tavis: Any race, yeah.
Collins: Yeah, any race in my books because that's the world that I live in. I know I keep on saying that, but it's so true because so many writers have this narrow kind of vision. So I'm happy that, yeah, a lot of young people, Black and white, start reading me at a very early age and I get them into reading because my books are exciting and fun and strong women and interesting men.
Tavis: And 400 million books later, there's the evidence [laugh] that a whole lot of folk are reading this stuff. Her name, of course, Jackie Collins. The new novel is called "Goddess of Vengeance." Lucky is back. Jackie Collins, I have so enjoyed this conversation.
Collins: Well, so have I. I really loved it. It was great.
Tavis: Thanks for coming on. Good to see you.
Collins: My pleasure. Good to see you too.
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External Links

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 3, 2003
CHICAGO -- Michael Jordan had the United Center rocking just like the old days as he and his sidekicks embarrassed another opponent.
Only this time, it was the hometown Bulls Jordan was helping humiliate.
Making his second trip to Chicago as an opponent, Jordan scored 10 points as Washington routed the Bulls 107-82 Thursday night.
The game was so out of hand Jordan didn't play in the fourth quarter, much to the dismay of the sellout crowd. Most left after the third, and the few who stuck it out spent the final minutes chanting, "We want Mike! We want Mike!"
Jordan also had five assists and five rebounds in 30 minutes, a relatively quiet night for the man who once scored 69 in a game.
Jordan's final game in Chicago is Jan. 24.
Jerry Stackhouse led the Wizards with 28 and Kwame Brown had 20 before being ejected with 1 minute, 19 seconds to play.
Jalen Rose led the Bulls with 26, but shadowed by Jordan most of the night, he shot 10-for-25. The other Bulls weren't any better, shooting 36 percent from the floor and 46 percent from the free-throw line. They were dominated on the boards, too, as the Wizards outrebounded them 53-32.
Bulls fans were so disgusted they booed the team at the end of the third, one fan holding up a sign directed at the team owner: "Krause, this is YOUR fault."
When the game ended, Jordan got a standing ovation as he walked off the court.
MAVERICKS 102, CLIPPERS 92: Steve Nash scored 24 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 20 and 10 rebounds for Dallas. Michael Finley also had 20 for the Mavericks, who held off a late Clippers charge to improve to 15-2 at home and a league-best 26-5 overall. Dallas, which never trailed, won for the seventh time in nine games. Lamar Odom had 20, Corey Maggette 17 and Quentin Richardson 14 for the Clippers, who have lost six of seven.
SUNS 96, 76ERS 78: Shawn Marion scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half as Phoenix pulled away to win its seventh straight home game. Rookie Amare Stoudemire added 20 and 11 rebounds, his 12th double double in the past 21 games. The surprising Suns have won 10 of 12 overall. After a slow start, Marion was 4-for-4 shooting, two of them 3-pointers, in the fourth. The 76ers fell to 1-4 on their Western road trip with one stop remaining Saturday in Dallas. Allen Iverson scored 12, one more than his season low, on 4-for-17 shooting.
HEAT: Point guard Travis Best is expected to miss at least a week with a sprained ankle. Guard Eddie House, who missed the past nine with a leg injury, likely will be activated today. HORNETS: Guard Baron Davis will miss tonight's game against Orlando because of back spasms.
RAPTORS: Forward Michael Bradley, who averaged 3.9 points and 4.7 rebounds, will miss a week with a disc injury to his lower back. Antonio Davis, who missed 13 with a swollen right knee, is expected to dress for tonight's game against Cleveland.
SUNS: The team placed Jake Tsakalidis on the injured list after he had microscopic surgery on his lower back. The 7-foot-2 center is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks.
WOLVES: Reserve center Loren Woods missed his second practice since being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. Coach Flip Saunders said Woods originally was suspended for Tuesday's practice and Saturday's game at Utah. The team didn't practice Wednesday, but Woods was expected to return Thursday.
ALL-STAR VOTING: Yao Ming has more fan votes than Shaquille O'Neal for next month's All-Star Game. Houston's 7-foot-6 rookie from China is fourth overall in the balloting and tops among centers with 814,393 votes. O'Neal is next among centers and 10th overall with 655,744. Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter are the top vote-getters after two rounds of balloting with 958,695 and 871,189. The game is Feb. 9 in Atlanta.
AWARDS: New Jersey guard Jason Kidd was named Eastern Conference player of the month for December and Sacramento forward Chris Webber won the honor in the West. Kidd averaged 20.0 points, 9.1 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals. Webber averaged 24.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.8 blocked shots.


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Peach Pecan Oatmeal
Peach pie for breakfast? How about in oatmeal form with toasted pecans? Sounds like the perfect summer breakfast to me.
Homemade Instant Oatmeal
Never buy processed oatmeal packets again. Get the taste of homemade oatmeal with the ease of instant with these homemade instant oatmeal packets. Just add your favorite mix-ins!
Pear Oatmeal Creme Brulee #BrunchWeek
Turn your everyday oatmeal into a breakfast-dessert hybrid simply by brulee-ing the top. And throw some pears, and walnuts in there while you're at it.
Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter Oatmeal
How do you like your warm oatmeal on a cold morning? How about apples, cinnamon, raisins, and peanut butter? Dig into this bowl and maybe even drizzle some chocolate on top.
After the first successful variation of my dad's apple harvest oatmeal turned into pumpkin pecan oatmeal I decided to try my hand at it again. Being Saturday I am sure you can guess specifically what flavor I went for… peanut butter of course! But the chocolate part of today's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Saturday get's benched for cinnamon and raisin. I used cinnamon raisin peanut butter for this oatmeal because I thought it would be the perfect peanut butter flavor for such a recipe. Turns out it says right on the jar that it is perfect for oatmeal, which I noticed mid-way through cooking it! Funny how things work out.
Alright I did let chocolate play a little bit with a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top. Ohio State plays Minnesota at noon today so I had to throw on at least a little chocolate to officially call it another successful #PBChocSat!
One year ago: Fiesta Alfredo Pasta Bake
Two years ago: Applesauce-Sweet Potato Pancakes
Three years ago: Crème Brulee
Four years ago: Big, Fat, Chewy Multichip Cookies
Read the rest of this entry »
Apple Harvest Oatmeal Revisit
Try this homemade oatmeal recipe and you may never buy the microwave packets again. It's hard to beat fresh apples and walnuts.
After nearly 4 years of blogging I've started what many food bloggers have done before me – remaking old recipes. The pictures from those early years not only do not do the recipes justice, but they may have been overlooked or forgotten after all this time which does not suit them. One recipe in particular is my dad's apple harvest oatmeal. This is the oatmeal that ruined me for the instant microwave packets. In my world, nothing can compare to this oatmeal except maybe variants on the additional ingredients. For example, I recently shared the recipe for a pumpkin version which was a fun fall flavor change-up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Pumpkin Pecan Oatmeal #PumpkinWeek
Wake up to a warm bowl of pumpkin pie in oatmeal form with crunchy pecans. You'll never go back to that instant stuff again.
Hi and welcome to day 4 of #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri from Love and Confections. We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day. 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder. Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board!
Check out all the #PumpkinWeek Bloggers and their recipes:
- Pumpkin Tres Leches by Love and Confections
- Spiced Pumpkin Butter by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Pumpkin Spice Palmiers by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Pumpkin Pecan Oatmeal by The Spiffy Cookie
- Mini Healthy Pumpkin Pies by Happy Food Healthy Life
- Easy Pumpkin Caramel Sauce by Lady Behind The Curtain
- Savory Pumpkin Tart by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
- Pumpkin Pie by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Making Miracles
This oatmeal was a spur of the moment improvisation by my dad. I had some leftover homemade pumpkin puree and he decided to try it in his trusty oatmeal recipe, substituting for the chopped apples. The result was pumpkin pie in oatmeal form! I even put some spiced pecans on top.
If you've never had homemade oatmeal before you are severely missing out. Nothing beats a warm bowl of homemade oatmeal in the morning, especially during the cooler fall months and it couldn't be easier to make. This morning my dad and I are going on a hike to see the fall colors and I may need to make another batch of this in preparation.
One year ago: Pumpkin Popcorn Balls
Two years ago: Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
Read the rest of this entry »
Strawberry Almond Scottish Oatmeal & Giveaway
Creamy oatmeal lovers will rejoice with this Scottish oatmeal. This stone-ground oatmeal is filled with fresh strawberries, crunchy almonds. And it's gluten-free!
When it comes to oats, I didn't know there was anything besides old-fashioned rolled and quick-cooking oats until a few years ago. Since then I have been introduced to steel cut oats, gluten-free oats and now Scottish oats thanks to Bob's Red Mill. But what the heck is Scottish oatmeal? It is in fact the original oatmeal or, as we call it in the US, porridge. The fairly fine texture (although more coarse than flour) of Scottish oatmeal is the result of grinding the kernels with stone mills and when cooked results in a creamy, thick and almost instant hot cereal. I bet these Scottish oats would also be great in baked goods, substituted for old-fashioned rolled oats.
Naturally the first thing I made with Scottish oatmeal was in fact oatmeal (or porridge). I used the recipe for my favorite hot cereal, my dad's apple harvest oatmeal, and substituted the rolled oats for Scottish oats and then strawberries and almonds instead of apples and walnuts. The end result was better than I had predicted. It was perfectly creamy, not too sweet and filling. I actually made this for breakfast on Father's Day and it was most appreciated.
Want to get your hands on some Scottish Oatmeal? How about a I give you a bag AND a $25 gift card to Bob's Red Mill? After checking out the recipe enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget!
One year ago: Homemade Mozzarella & Caprese Salad Skewers
Two years ago: Blueberry-Blackberry Muffins
Read the rest of this entry »
Overnight, Slow Cooker Ice Cream Oatmeal
No you are not going crazy, nor do you need your eyes checked. I did in fact say "ice cream oatmeal". While trying to determine what to make with all the ice cream Graeter's sent me I somehow got the bright idea to use some ice cream in place of the liquid needed to make oatmeal. I felt like a genius, although I did worry it would be too sweet for the first meal of the day. But guess what? It wasn't too sweet at all, in fact it wasn't any sweeter than other oatmeals I've made in the past.
The best thing about this recipe is that you can use any flavor ice cream you want, assuming it is a flavor you would care to enjoy for breakfast. I chose Graeter's Black Cherry Chocolate Chip and with the addition of chopped almonds it was everything I had dreamed of – a creamy oatmeal with a hint of cherry and chocolate flavors and the crunch of almonds. I threw more almonds and dark chocolate chips on top because I couldn't get enough.
One year ago: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Two years ago: Chicken Alfredo Biscuit Casserole
Read the rest of this entry »
Baked Apple Cider Oatmeal
Want to wake up to a warm bowl of fall? If you make this baked oatmeal that's exactly what will happen. With fresh apple, oats, cinnamon, walnuts, and even apple cider you'll be ready to navigate your way through a corn maze – or just get through another weekday. For an extra boost, serve it over some vanilla Greek yogurt or even apple cinnamon Greek yogurt! I don't think it's possible to be overloaded with apple-cinnamon in this situation.
In other news, I finally submitted my first job application yesterday for a senior research position in the Infectious Disease Department at Genentech. Somehow, not quite as nerve racking as sending my dissertation to my committee, but still up there. I was so involved in the application process that I forgot to eat lunch until nearly 3pm. Even better reason for me to wake up to a bowl of comforting, fall-flavored oatmeal!
One year ago: Apple Cinnamon Greek Yogurt Pancakes
Read the rest of this entry »
Cherry Vanilla Almond Overnight Oatmeal
If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you've heard me say many times how difficult it is for my to devote more than 1 minute to the preparation of breakfast on weekday mornings. I just don't want to wake up any earlier than I already do, and as a result most warm breakfast recipes I post were made on the weekend, in a crock pot overnight, or for dinner. Thankfully, there are more options than a bowl of cereal every morning, such as this single serving oatmeal in a jar.
The great thing about this oatmeal is that it can be made a couple days in advance and can be mixed with any fruit or nuts on hand. I know plenty of people rolling in berries from picking throughout the summer and this would be a great way to use some. The rest of the ingredients are staples I have stocked all the time. In the morning the jar can be snatched for an on-the-go option or warmed up in the microwave to enjoy warm at home. Or while we're at it, nuke it and then take it to go!
Two years ago: Jalapeno Cheddar Hummus with Homemade Pita Chips
Read the rest of this entry »


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haystack, grass, round, green, herb, plant, pile, stack, circular
round haystack on green grass


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I'm liking it.
Although I'm not a fan of the names Hilbert and Hilda. No offense to anyone named thus, but from where I'm from, those names sound a little hillbilly.
I personally liked the names Blake and Alba for them (both meaning White), but that's not important here.
The two of them do look sweet together though.


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Can a person have a "drinking career?" I was about to start this off with, When I think about my drinking career… Then I realized drinking isn't exactly a job nor how I'd ever hope to describe the majority of my day to day life. At the ripe old age of 27, I think about my adult beverage of choice decisions through the years:
Freshmen year of college, I lived on the honors all girl floor of our dormitory. My roommate and I housed really shitty beer and wine coolers in our fridge on occasion. When I moved off campus the following fall, I was 19. I would've liked to consider myself a beer snob, but really I was missing the good microbrews notorious to the West Coast and instead indulging in still-cheap-Canadian beer. The summer I turned 20, there were many poor college student margaritas and inexpensive beer, sweet wines, cheap Carlo Rossi sangria by the jug-full drank with bendy straws… 21 brought weird concoctions that included things like Hypnotic, nasty Malibu rum, too much cheap vodka, or a hell of a lot of Kahlua. I probably shouldn't tell you I invented what I called "liquor soup" amongst my roommates, which certainly came served in a bowl without utensils. That same summer I turned 21, I had my first mojito. It was probably the downfall of my birthday bar hopping shenanigans. I vowed never to drink another mojito again… and I didn't, for a number of years. The thought of mashed up mint leaves in my drinks made me cringe.
In the last half decade or so, I've found an appreciation for good microbrews (I love a good beer, especially after a long day or hot afternoon). I've also found an appreciation for good quality bourbon, tequila, vodka, and gin. Not together in a soup, but certainly on their own or in a good drink. When I saw this drink from Joy Wilson at Joy the Baker the other night, featuring smashed strawberries, basil, and lime, I immediately thought of the gin and tonics I found myself loving a few years ago. I decided gin would be an excellent accompaniment to this drink, along with fresh vanilla bean, which would add the tiny polka dots I so love about freshly scraped vanilla bean. The drink itself isn't overly sweet, as the only sweetness is coming from the smashed strawberries. Reminiscent of a mojito, the smashed basil works nicely with the strawberries and gin. This recipe is easy enough to duplicate, or if you don't feel like sharing, it makes enough for one.
Strawberry Basil Gin Cocktail
Makes one drink.
Strawberry Basil Gin Cocktail with Vanilla Bean
6-8 ripe strawberries
2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
½ a vanilla bean, scraped
2 oz. good quality gin
4 oz. tonic water
1 ripe lime, juiced
crushed ice
In a small bowl, combine the strawberries, basil, scraped vanilla bean, half of the lime juice, and mash together with a fork until well combined.
Combine the mashed strawberry mixture, gin, tonic, remaining lime juice, and a good bit of crushed ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until thoroughly mixed, then pour into a drinking glass. Top off with more crushed ice if needed, then drink immediately.


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Malaysian Indians are not beggars
ALOR SETAR: Indians are not returning to the MIC despite the latter's claims, said V Arumugam, former Bukit Selambau state assemblyman.
On the contrary, they are wiser now to the political dynamics in Kedah and would not easily fall for Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, which now rules the state.
Gone are the days when Indians, particularly those working in plantations, would blindly support MIC, said Arumugam.
"Now they want to see which side can offer them the best deal for themselves and their families," he said.
Kedah has the country's highest concentration of Indians in a rural area, covering the stretch from Kulim, Sungai Petani, Padang Serai, Lunas to Merbok and Bukit Selambau.
According to Arumugam, reports that the Indians are returning to BN, particularly in Kedah and, especially after Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan exited from Pakatan, are not accurate.
"I think the majority of us would continue to support Pakatan. We can see for ourselves now what the state government is doing compared to what MIC did for us in the past 50 years.
"The BN's move in dishing out goodies has raised questions among Indians as to why they are only getting attention now compared to previous years.
"The community realises BN's goodies are designed to win votes, but there is no sustainable policy in place to raise their living standards, particularly the poor from rural areas.
"We prefer to get goodies by ourselves through government policies. We dislike having to be dependent on handouts. This is the feeling of most Indians," said Arumugam.
Bread-and-butter issue
On the logging issue, the squabble between Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak and his councillors as well as the poor financial position of the state, Arumugam said in the eyes of the Indians, these are just politics.
The mainstream media are harping on such issues but for the laymen these have been overblown to cause problems for Pakatan.
In Kedah, there is the logging issue; in Selangor, the acute water shortage and in Penang, the excessive hillslope development.
"They may be issues but the laymen see them as mostly political that do not affect their lives," said Arumugam.
What matters most is the "bread-and-butter" issues and Pakatan has the edge on this because its leaders are speaking the language of the average person and his needs.
To enable a better standard of living, the government must eradicate corruption, provide a level playing, uphold justice, reduce crime rate and foster unity.
Instead, the opposite is happening and this is why the Indians have joined many others in expressing their anger, said Arumugam.
He also said BN has lost the plot with the young, who are now supporting Pakatan.
"They are prone to anti-establishment virtues, but most importantly, they have access to the alternative media and thus, there are more reports about Pakatan leaders," he said. -FMT


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Thursday October 3, 2013
Prince Charles has recorded the Dylan Thomas poem, Fern Hill, to mark National Poetry day.
Charles is the royal patron of the Dylan Thomas 100 festival and has said that Fern Hill is "one of his personal favourites" because "it inspires people to appreciate the incomparable landscape of Wales."
William Sieghart, the Founder of National Poetry Day, welcomed The Prince's recording: "There's no mistaking The Prince of Wales' love of this moving poem. I hope many will follow his wonderful example on National Poetry Day. This is a day to find a poem you love and share it."
Dylan Thomas is one of Wales's most important and revered writers, and the Dylan Thomas 100 Festival, which will begin later this year and run throughout 2014, will mark the centenary of his birth with a worldwide programme of events.
The recording is available from today.


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Paint the CountyJuly 23rd, 2010 | Posted in art show
Saturday July 31st
10am – 4pm
Downtown Picton
Creativity in Action…
Up to 20 County artists will take to the streets of Picton on Saturday, July 31st, set up their easels and paint outdoors from 10am to 4pm. Follow these masterful works back to the Art Cellar gallery at Black Prince Winery to bid on your favourite in a silent auction.
The silent auction closes Sunday August 1st at 4pm.
What a great way to see artists at work and take home a piece of The County!
Participating artists:
Amelie Koning, Ron Pickering, Thelma Knobbs, Mary Brett, Gerry Putnam, Doreen Hepburn, Laverne Chisan, Joan Mackay, Mile, Murtanovski, Vanessa Pandos, Pamela Carter, Mia Lane, Marta Smith, Judy Plomer, Judy Kent, Dayna Law, Ann Wood, Aidan Haley, Kyle Sherwin, Cynthia Dinsdale.
*Proceeds from the sale of the artwork will go to PEC Alternatives For Women, a counseling agency dedicated to providing safe and confidential services while working to end violence and abuse of women.
Paint the County is an Arts on Main Gallery initiative sponsored by Black Prince Winery and Prince Edward County Arts Council.


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We welcome Bishop William Crean as the newly ordained Bishop of the Diocese of Cloyne. A beautiful ordination ceremony was held in Cobh Cathedral on Sunday. Led by Canon O'Leary the Vicar Forane of the Deanery, Mitchelstown was well represented at the Ceremony. The motto of the new Bishop is 'Croi Le Bri Nua' 'Heart with a new vitality'. May God guide and protect him in these difficult and complex times.
The annual Social will take place in the Firgrove Hotel this Saturday night February 9 starting at 7.30pm. Tickets from Declan 086-4005727. Music by Checkers.
There is a change in the opening hours for the Mitchelstown Citizens Information Centre at Marian Hall, Convent Hill. The E-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com
The new opening hours will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am to 1pm Thursday 1.30pm to 4.30pm. Friday 7.30pm to 9pm.
Five week course starting Wednesday February 13 5.00pm to 6pm. $30.00 material
provided. Bright Sparks, Brigown Contact Deirdre Dunne 085-7844305.
For healthy walking join at New Square Mitchelstown each Tuesday night from 7pm
Contact 087 – 9320062.
There are a number of vacancies for Adoration at Mitchelstown Parish Church. The hours that need to be filled on a weekly basis are Sunday 8pm to 9pm. Monday 8am to 9am Wednesday 7am to 8am. Friday 8am to 9am. If interested contact Nora Hogan 025 24149 or Catherine Hanley 087 – 7727496.
Area Art Under 8, 10, 12 14 16 and Model Making Under 10, 12 & 14. Age after July 3lst 2013. Submit entries to Ballyhoura Office by Thursday February 15.
Project :Under 11 Greatest Invention of all time. Under 13 Focus of underage based on participation or winning. Under 16 Impact on advertising/media on life choices of youth today. Drop entries to Ballyhoura Office, Baldwin St. Mitchelstown by Feb 15.th Debating Under 14 topics : Total ban om smoking. Sport should be for participation. Arm the Gardai. Voting made compulsory. Organ donation compulsory. Call John 085-1639833.
The death occurred on January 28th of Margaret Walsh (Nee Corbett) Ballykearney Mitchelstown at her daughter Eileen's residence Oldcastletown, Kildorrery. The late Margaret was in her 92nd year. She was predeceased by her husband William. The late Margaret was well known in the Mitchelstown and surrounding areas. Her popularity was borne out by the very large and represented attendance at the removal
from O'Brien's Funeral Home on Tuesday evening January 29 to Ballindangan Church and also at the Requiem Mass and burial on Wednesday. Interment took place to Brigown New Cemetery. To her sons Frank, Michael Billy, Ned, Patrick Gerard, daughters Mary (Birkett) Anne (Preston) Eileen (Coughlan) sister in law Peg, brother in law Jim, sons in law, daughters in law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren relatives
neighbours and friends we tender our sincere sympathy.
Indoor athletics will leave Mitchelstown CBS for a few weeks of exams/'The Wizard of Oz' until February 27. They will train at Ballygiblin Old School on Wednesday nights from 7pm to 8pm. The training will teach fundamentals of agility, balance and flexibility in a fun way. Activities include sprint relays, jumps, hops, vaults, flips, somersaults and throws. Boys and girls aged 8 and upwards are welcome. Spikeball is being offered after the athletics session on Wednesday nights at 8pm. The AGM was well attended last Friday night. The new Officers are Chairman Finbarr McCarthy, Hon Secretary Seamus Fox, Treasurer Paul Downey. Membership Officer Brian Burke.
Debating Under 14 is a new activity in 2013. Panel of 4. Topics Total ban on smoking, Sport should be for participation. Arm the Gardai, Voting made compulsory. Organ donation compulsory. Project and debating to go ahead on February 24. Three speakers each side with only two teams in each debate. A chairperson and a timekeeper with two adjudicators the panel may consist of 6 members. Minimum for all speakers is one minute. For captains opening and closing speeches 2 minutes maximum. All remaining team mates have one and a half minutes maximum. Mitchelstown Area includes Araglin, Glanworth, Kildorrery and Kilworth.
The AGM of Mitchelstown Lawn Tennis Club took place on Tuesday night in the Hunter's Rest. There was a large attendance present. Chairman Ciaran O'Kennedy presided. He spoke about improvements in the club during the year and was delighted to state there were now 400 members. The Secretary and Treasurer both
presented detailed annual reports. Election of Officers 2013. President John Waldron,
Club Captain Margaret Sheedy, Chairman Ciaran O'Kennedy, Hon Secretary Veronica O'Keeffe, Treasurer Karl Sweeney, Assistant Treasurer Patricia Hanley, PRO Denis Motherway, Membership Officer Liam Kent, Juvenile Officers David Casey, Catherine O'Keeffe, committee – Michael Waldron, Joanne O'Grady, Catherine O'Farrell, Marie Therese O'Kennedy, Michael Rea, Catherine Rea, Helena O'Brien, Joan O'Sullivan, Paddy Hanley.
The Junior A footballers will compete in the Cavanagh's Fermoy Div 1 FL.They will be in group 2 which comprises : Buttevant, Lisgoold, Killavullen, Cobh, Charleville, Erins Own and Mitchelstown. The Division 3 football side have their opening league game this Sunday in Mitchelstown against Kilshannig 2.30pm.


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HARTFORD, Conn. — Jet engine manufacturer Pratt &Whitney and the Machinists union begin negotiations on Thursday for a new contract governing pay, benefits, work rules and other conditions, but the top issue will be jobs.
Neither company nor union representatives would discuss the issues expected to dominate negotiations. But union officials have said they might not recommend a contract for ratification without specific language about the number of jobs.
"If management does not come to the bargaining table with a commitment to keep our jobs in Connecticut, you will have a crucial decision to make," the union said in a message on its website to members this summer. "If management continues to ignore covered work and past commitments, how can the committee recommend a contract?"
Pratt &Whitney employs about 32,000 workers worldwide, with about 15,000 in the United States. It has about 9,000 employees in Connecticut, with about 3,000 covered by the contract, the company said.
The battle over jobs is not new. Top-paid manufacturing jobs — at Pratt &Whitney or anywhere else — are increasingly scarce as manufacturers squeeze out productivity from fewer workers and find cost-cutting a principal source of boosting profit.
Most recently, Pratt &Whitney lost a legal battle in 2010 to shut down engine repair shops in East Hartford and Cheshire to cut labor costs and move jobs closer to customers. It eventually won at the bargaining table what it lost in federal court: closing the two plants and shifting hundreds of jobs to Columbus, Ga., Singapore and Japan. The union won concessions over severance pay for workers forced out.
In the first nine months of the year, Pratt &Whitney posted revenue of $10.4 billion, up 3 percent from the same period in 2012. Operating profit rose a far stronger 15 percent, to $1.4 billion in the nine-month period, as the company wrung out more productivity and reduced costs, including axing nearly 1,000 salaried and hourly jobs this year.
Pratt &Whitney President David Hess said in April that its military program likely will falter in the short term as the company transitions from military engines such as the F-22 that have ended production. However, engine orders are expected to pick up in a few years with an increase in production of joint strike fighter engines.
Teal Group aviation consultant Richard Aboulafia said United Technologies is "one of the very few" companies in the industry with a sizable manufacturing presence in the Northeast. He compared it to Boeing, which has a similarly large presence in the Northwest.
"There, too, you had the exact same confrontation with the union over moving jobs," he said. "The best the union can do is find a compromise, to save jobs as best it can."
Don Klepper-Smith, an economist who advised former Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, said Connecticut and other Northeast states are finding it harder to compete for well-paid manufacturing jobs. An "aerospace cluster" is forming in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, where unions are scarcer and taxes and energy costs are lower, he said.
"We're facing an uphill climb with respect to job creation," he said.
David Cadden, a business professor at Quinnipiac University, said even if the Machinists win the immediate fight to keep jobs, the battle will continue.
"I think unfortunately in Connecticut you're going to see more and more manufacturing jobs going offshore and to right-to-work states," he said.


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Eagle Feathers #9 – King Arthur
By Bob (Monty) Doherty
Before Oprah, Ellen or Donahue dominated daytime TV, and Howard Stern or Howie Carr (a former Somerville resident, by the way) dominated the radio, there was Arthur Godfrey, who totally dominated both mediums.
He was considered by many to be the single most powerful and influential person in the broadcasting business during the 1950's and, for years, lived right here in Somerville. He was married at St. Catherine's Church.
Godfrey got his first broadcasting experience serving in the U. S. Navy as a radio operator. His big break that landed him a weekly radio program came when he performed at a talent show in Baltimore while serving in the Coast Guard. Godfrey got into a serious car accident causing a lengthy hospitalization.
During his recuperation, he listened to radio shows and decided that the stiff delivery of the era was not a good way to connect with listeners. So when he returned to radio, he brought with him a new and groundbreaking technique to the audience as if they were friends of his. This conversational approach to broadcasting was unheard of at the time, and it made him a star.
His fame exploded and, before long, he had more than one television program. One of his more famous shows was called Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. This show was very much like American Idol in certain ways. Different acts were performed and the winners were determined by an applause meter. A major difference, however, was that the contestants on Talent Scouts went on to have more prominent careers than those on Idol and in greater numbers.
Entertainers that graced Godfrey's stage included: Rosemary Clooney (that would be George's aunt, by the way, for you younger folks), Tony Bennett, Lenny Bruce, Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley. And, surprisingly enough, on the night of his performance on the show, Elvis left the building without first prize in tow. Despite his loss Godfrey's program, I do recall him going on to see some moderate success after that.
One of Godfrey's more famous fans included President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who listened to his radio show faithfully. Arthur was featured on the covers of nearly every major magazine of the day, including Time. He appeared in various movies and countless TV shows throughout his career.
On top of all this, he was an accomplished pilot. Godfrey's fans were so endeared to his soothing voice that, during the Cold War, President Eisenhower commissioned Arthur to make a "doomsday tape" to be played in the event that the U.S. fall under attack. Eisenhower wanted Godfrey's voice instructing people what to do and where to take shelter because he believed that it would calm the public and decrease the odds of mass hysteria. So know that the man who conquered media in the fifties and was hand selected in the last century lived over at the corner of Cedar and Princeton. He died in 1983 and his body now rests in Virginia.


text: Hi, I'm interested in how differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is being used to analyze protein. In particular, how differences between a wild-type and a mutant protein may be studied using this technique. Would anyone have a reference that would describe its use in such an application? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Alan J. Simmons


text:
Academy taking steps to keep girls safe
By ERIC STIRGUS
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 2, 2000
LARGO -- A Largo facility that houses juvenile offenders said Friday it will attempt to prevent employees from being alone with female residents after one worker was arrested earlier this week on charges he had sex with a 16-year-old girl in a bathroom on the grounds.
The Florida Youth Academy will have one of its top officials at the facility at all times, said its executive director, John Cheney. The center also is working with supervisors to make sure that male workers are not alone with female residents, he said.
One worker, Freddie Crayton, 43, of Largo, was charged Wednesday with sexual battery after a 16-year-old girl said they had consensual sex. Police are investigating similar allegations made by three other young women against Crayton, according to Largo police. One of those cases will be reviewed next week by the state attorney's office, police said Friday.
Crayton is being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The academy works with youths up to 18 years old who have gotten in trouble with the law. The youths are referred to the academy by the state Department of Juvenile Justice. Their stay can last anywhere from six months to a year.
The five-building facility at 12895 Seminole Blvd. was purchased from Charter Behavioral Health Systems in September by Devyani Desai, who had been a mental health consultant for Charter.
Cheney stressed Friday that the academy is a safe place. He said the facility got a safety rating of "superior" from the state earlier this year. The academy has a "zero tolerance" policy against the sort of behavior Crayton has been charged with, Cheney said.
"It's something we're taking very seriously and something we are going to ensure doesn't happen again," he said.
The academy has 146 employees and 132 beds for its youths. State and local criminal background checks are done on all employees, officials said.
State officials said Friday they think the allegations against Crayton amount to an isolated incident.
"The program has taken the appropriate actions," said Department of Juvenile Justice spokeswoman Catherine Arnold.
Arnold said the agency has not received any calls from parents concerned about the safety of their children. After the young woman came forward to academy officials, supervisors there contacted every parent with a child at the center and told them of the allegations, Cheney said. The academy also interviewed every resident and asked whether they had any improper contact with Crayton.
Crayton also is a bus driver for the Pinellas County School Board.
The academy looks for its employees at area colleges or through newspaper advertisements, Cheney said.
Mark Fountaine, executive director of the Florida Juvenile Justice Association, a group of residential juvenile justice facilities, said it is difficult to find and keep good employees at these types of centers.
Fountaine said although the vast majority of people who work at such facilities are problem-free, it is inevitable that a few will act inappropriately.
"Unfortunately, in our industry, as with any other industry, you have staff who make inappropriate decisions," he said. "You have to have little tolerance for that type of behavior."
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-893-8111
From the Times
North Pinellas desks


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Unlike the MPAA we do not assign one inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest, depending on quantity and context.
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Five couples deal with becoming parents in different ways, either through
pregnancy or adoption. Based on the self-help bestseller. With Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Ben Falcone, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro, Joe Manganiello and Rob Huebel. Directed by Kirk Jones. [1:50]
SEX/NUDITY 4 - A man and a woman kiss, the man caresses the woman's waist and her clothed buttock, he lifts her up and places her on the hood of a car and sex is implied. A husband and his wife come out from behind tall shrubs in a park and we see them adjusting their clothing, implying that they had a sexual encounter in the bushes. A husband caresses his wife's leg and they lie back on a picnic blanket in a park and kiss (other people are around them and they allude to having sex).
► A woman wearing a robe climbs on top of a clothed man lying in bed and they kiss and laugh. A husband kisses a tattoo on his wife's shoulder. Husbands and wives hug and kiss in several scenes throughout the movie. A wife pulls her husband close to her while he is seated in a chair and tells him that she will "give him one right here and right now" (presumably referring to oral sex). A man and a woman (not married) lie in bed together and he caresses her pregnant stomach; both are clothed). A man and a woman kiss. A man kisses a woman's clothed, pregnant belly.
► During a dance performance a woman rips her partner's shirt off and he dances bare-chested. During a dance performance a woman wearing a bikini top and tiny skirt (cleavage, bare abdomen, back and legs to the hip are seen) and dances suggestively with a man with wiggling and thrusting hips while the man caresses her abdomen.
► A woman married to a man's father (she is much younger than the man) reaches for the adult son and says, "Give mama a kiss," as she hugs him and kisses him on the cheek. A man slaps another man on the clothed buttock and he says, "Don't ever touch me again." A woman touches her clothed breasts and says "Ouch."
► A man is shown bare-chested while exercising in a park. A woman wears a dance outfit that reveals cleavage, bare abdomen and legs to the hip. A woman wears a low-cut tank top that reveals cleavage and bare shoulders. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage in many scenes throughout the movie. A woman wears an off-the-shoulder dress that reveals cleavage and bare shoulders. A woman wears workout clothing that reveals cleavage, bare abdomen and bare legs (a glimpse of lower buttock is seen in one scene). We see a woman's bare pregnant stomach in several scenes throughout the movie. A man showers and we see his bare back, chest and shoulders. We see a woman with a tattooed (with henna) pregnant belly. A woman takes off her bra under her shirt and complains of being uncomfortable in front of a crowd of people. We see a nude newborn girl (no genitals are visible).
► We see a portrait of a husband and wife where the man is nude and a large champagne bottle that is spewing foam covers his genitals. We see a photograph of several women wearing thongs and their bare buttocks are visible. We see a photograph of a woman wearing a bikini top and a man remarks about the size of her breasts. A woman in a photograph is shown wearing a showgirl costume that reveals cleavage and bare legs.
► The title of a children's book about nursing is "Milk It" and the cover features stylized pink breasts with red nipples.
► A woman tells a man after she had sex with him once that she is pregnant and they discuss what they are going to do about it. A woman says, "she's totally doing him" while watching a dance show on TV. A woman says, "I'd let that one do me." The name of a store is "Breast Choice." A woman says of a man, "I'd play with that." When a woman's telephone rings we see the screen and it reads "You're Ovulating" and her husband's phone plays Tarzan music while she yells at him to have sex with her. A woman tells a married man and his wife to "Go home, have sex." Two women talk about having children and one tells the other, "Don't miss your window." A woman says that food she is eating is a "foodgasm." A man tells his adult son, "There are no blanks in this pistol" while pointing to his crotch. A woman says that a side effect of being pregnant has caused her to crave sex. A woman tells a man that she had sex "across Europe." A woman says of her husband, "He's still got that race car engine" and they nuzzle. A woman refers to herself as a man's mother since she married the man's father (she is likely to be about the same age as the man). A woman says that when her sister was pregnant she got herpes. A woman makes a comment about having a phantom pregnancy. A woman who cannot conceive says, "I'm the one with the bad eggs." A man tells another man and a pregnant woman to "have sex" and another tells the man to touch a part of the woman's anatomy to help start the labor.
VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - After a C-section a woman falls unconscious and her husband is rushed from the OR; we hear the surgeon say, "We have a lot of bleeding" (she recovers). A pregnant woman wakes up and tells her partner that she is bleeding; we see them go to the hospital and they are told by a doctor that she lost her baby (we do not hear this but we see their reaction). A pregnant woman collapses to the ground and moans; we see her being examined and she is told that she needs to stay on bed-rest.
► A man drives over another man's foot and he screams; we see the man's very bruised toe later and then we see him in a cast. We see a pregnant woman in an operating room having a C-section and the medical staff has blood on their gloves; we see the child with blood on it and the umbilical cord still attached.
► A wife slaps her husband in the face and tells him to get her drugs during labor. We see three women in labor screaming, crying and moaning.
► Two men race in golf carts on a golf course; we see golfers jump out of the way (they are unharmed) and one golf cart crashes through a cabana and into a swimming pool (the driver is unharmed). A boy is hit in the head by a can of beer and he falls backward down a flight of stairs; we see him lying on the ground, but he gets up and appears OK. We see a boy with a bandage on his forehead in a few scenes, and then a sling on his arm and we hear that he is accident-prone.
► A woman vomits into a trophy bowl: we see the goo hit the glass bowl and hear her gag. A woman vomits into a bush outside a house (we see goo and hear her gag. A woman says, "I just peed myself" and we see the back of her dress stained with urine. A woman flatulates. We hear that a pregnant woman has gas and people react to the smell. A pregnant woman's water breaks and several people react to the wetness left on the floor. We see four babies born and they are covered with goo and the umbilical cords are shown.
► A pregnant wife tells her husband, "All I wanna do is punch you in the face." A pregnant woman says, "I wanna rip this baby out." A man and a woman argue about whether or not to have their child circumcised in a couple of scenes. A husband and his wife argue. A husband and his wife argue about their child's name. A man talks about his wife delivering their children and her legs being splayed. A man talks about his child rolling off the changing table, another man talks about his child having eaten a cigarette and another about his child playing in the dryer. A man yells at his father. A wife yells at her husband. A woman says that when her sister was pregnant she got herpes. A woman makes a comment about having a phantom pregnancy. A woman who cannot conceive says, "I'm the one with the bad eggs." A man says that parenting is "the place where happiness goes to die." Before a performance a woman says, "I'm gonna throw up" (she does not). A woman says, "I just peed myself" several times throughout the movie.
► A boy holds what looks like a dead cat in his hand. A man and a woman compare scars (we do not see them but they describe them as being from burns, deli meat slicers, etc.). We see sonogram pictures in several scenes in varying degrees of detail. A boy hits a man in the leg with a foam sword.
PROFANITY 5 - At least 1 F-word, 1 mouthed F-word, 2 "Fs," 1 obscene hand gesture, 15 sexual references, 25 scatological terms, 17 anatomical terms (the name of a store is "Breast Choice"), 15 mild obscenities, exclamations (shut up), name-calling (player, trouble, cute, hot, magical pregnancy unicorn, stupid, Latins, spazz, ridiculous, cheater, idiot, crazy lady), 1 religious profanity, 15 religious exclamations. [profanity glossary]
SUBSTANCE USE - A pregnant woman having a C-section talks about loving morphine and that she and her husband should get some for the house, pregnant women and medical staff discuss epidurals, a man inhales medicine from an inhaler, and a man talks about partying and doing drugs. A man and a woman drink wine, a woman gulps a glass of wine and says she's drunk while she pours herself another, people drink at a party, a man drinks a beer, a man and his son drink Tequila shots with breakfast, a man and a woman drink beer, and a woman appears drunk and says, "Tequila shots!"
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Parenting, inability to have children, marriage, love, adoption, miscarriage, In-Vitro Fertilization, relationships between older men and younger women, jealousy, circumcision, C-sections, hormonal changes during pregnancy, father/son relationships, competing.
MESSAGE - Family is all that matters in life.
Special Keywords: S4 - V3 - P5 - MPAAPG-13
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text:
South Hackensack, N.J.-based Boswell Engineering is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. And while this is a significant occasion for the multidisciplinary firm, its longevity alone is not what sets this firm apart from many other U.S. engineering firms. This company's true distinction lies within the very structure of its incorporation as a family-owned business that treats its entire staff like family.
This family is approximately 315 strong, and is run by the Boswell brothers: Stephen T. Boswell, Ph.D., P.E., president; Bruce D. Boswell, P.E., vice president; and Kevin J. Boswell, P.E., vice president. The firm was founded as a two-man field office in 1924 by their grandfather, David C. Boswell, to provide municipal and transportation services in and around Ridgefield Park, N.J. In 1963, David's sons, Howard L. Boswell, Sr., and David J. Boswell, took over operations of the firm and transferred ownership to the third generation of Boswells — the late Howard Boswell, Jr. — in the early 1980s. Upon Howard Jr.'s untimely death in 1990, his younger brothers stepped up to provide the leadership necessary for the continuation and expansion of the company.
Through each generation of ownership, Boswell Engineering has thrived and broadened its engineering capabilities. The company began modestly under a founder who did not go to college but was "of the time when engineers were those who learned as they went," according to Stephen. Today, as a 21st-century engineering and construction management firm that offers environmental services and underwater inspections, the firm includes two New York branch offices and handles thousands of active projects at any given time. All of the staff at Boswell Engineering takes pride in the fact that the planning, design, and construction supervision of a multitude of projects has improved the quality of life for the cities, towns, and counties with which the firm has been associated. "The company has grown up serving clients. And we have adapted to the needs of our clients rather than trying to adapt them to what we'd prefer." Stephen said it was his grandfather's intention to keep ownership of the firm within the family, and even as teenagers, he and his siblings were encouraged to get a taste of the life of an engineer and what it meant to provide such invaluable services to the public. "We've all been involved [with the firm] since we were 14 years old," he said. "All of us began in the field, working summers in New Jersey." And living up to their grandfather's plan still today, the only shareholders in the firm are Boswells.
In fact, the stock must be owned by a family member who is a licensed engineer.
That is not to say, however, that the employees of Boswell Engineering lack any ownership in the firm. While they do not own stock, the staff feels a great amount of pride in the work that they do, and each person is encouraged to take on as much work as they personally think they can handle. "We're still small enough that [employees] have responsibility and authority — not just responsibility — but we're large enough that we have all the resources you could possibly need," said Stephen. Further, this career-nurturing atmosphere has spawned a unique setting where employees have encouraged their own family members to join the firm. For instance, one family has five members that work for Boswell. There even are multiple generations of employees from certain families.
"Employees make their comments about what they think about the firm by their longevity here with the firm, and also by the fact that they bring their friends and family to come and work here also," said Stephen. "We have very few people who have been here five years and leave."
"We find that most employees that come to work for us make a career out of it," added Bruce, who said that the company's open-door management style has been key to the firm's success, both economically and from a human resources perspective.
"I have been at Boswell for five years and the only regret that I have is that it hasn't been for the past 25 years of my professional career," said John Rottenbucher, P.E. "The Boswells strive to ensure that each individual's contributions … are recognized and appreciated." Clearly, the brothers take their leadership roles seriously. Following in the footsteps of their familial predecessors, Stephen said the three of them choose to lead by example. "One of our rules as owners is that we don't want anyone here working harder than we do," he said. "And I think that employees see that. They see the difference between absentee owners and owners that are in there with them." The firm's clients take notice of the Boswell brothers' actions as well.
Each client receives as much "face time" as they choose from one or all of the owners. Stephen said that this personal attention to their clients is a primary advantage to the firm's continual success. He said that clients are comforted by the fact that they have access to an engineering firm's owners. "We're personally involved with the quality control of the product that goes out of here," he said. "They see us, they know us, and they know they're dealing with the people who can impact the business." With such impressive cooperation among the firm's family and with its clients, many of Boswell Engineering's projects have led to industry recognition and awards, reflecting the firm's commitment to excellence. And while the list of awards is too lengthy to mention here, it is worth noting that the range of award-winning projects varies from $200-million transportation projects for state agencies to small projects for local municipalities.
This high-quality work also has garnered the attention of Boswell's competition, many of which have approached the firm regarding a possible sale or merger. "We have been approached many times. … It's just that we are a family business," said Stephen. "The three of us would do quite well but I'm not so sure about our employees." So, what happens when these protective leaders retire? Fortunately for the firm's staff, the fourth generation of Boswells will be ready to take the helm. The Boswells have a nephew who already is an employee, and Stephen's daughter plans to join the company once she completes her civil engineering course work at Duke University. Further, Bruce's daughter — although still a high school student — has expressed an interest in studying civil engineering. (Kevin's children still are young.) If history is any indication, the firm will be left in capable hands and will continue to thrive.


text:
bill-swift - February 21, 2014
If we're talking strong and sturdy and sextastic, the three S's, you'd be hard-pressed to our S Michelle Lewin and her bikini beach body in Miami, showing off every single squat, lunge, and thrust she does to build a powerful, shapely, and alluring lean muscle line in the sand in her skimpy blue bikini.
We've been admiring Michelle's fuerta booty this winter, wondering whether or not she lives up to the hype of Strongest Cheeks along the sandy strand in South Florida. All I'm saying is that if I had a body part between those cheeks and she threatened to squeeze, I wouldn't talk, but only because the pain would be so glorious. Enjoy.


text:
Laisa Andrioli is a Sportswoman from Brazil. She was born in Sao Bernardo on March 10, 1987. She is listed on FreeOnes since 2010 and is currently ranked 35466th place. She currently has 3 gallery links in her own FreeOnes section.
Our records show that Laisa Andrioli is currently active which means she is still making movies, doing live shows and/or doing photo shoots.
Currently we have only a few links of Laisa Andrioli. You can help us out by submitting more photos and videos links to Laisa Andrioli galleries.
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text:
Providing Diapers and Kindness
Serving Dedham, Needham and South Boston, Massachusetts
This program and those who volunteer are a gift. Thank you so very much. This program encourages those who work for a living to keep doing the hard stuff.Needham Recipient
Receiving diapers monthly is amazing. It relieves a huge stress of whether or not I can provide diapers for my son.South Boston Recipient
Means a lot. It means that I can use extra money towards food, baby clothes, utilities and other necessities.South Boston Recipient
"Baby Basics provides an essential item to families…and allows them to keep their baby safe and healthy."
~Jasmine Benger, Former WIC Program Director


text:
"Dear Medhelp, I had a car accident way back on 8th March. Was diagnosed after MRI of right knee to be having Contusion injury type 1 involving Patella alongwith adjoining superficial soft tissue oedema, Moderate haemothrosis and Degen..."
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text:
he Californian got out of the presidential endorsement business in 2012, when, for the first time in our history, we did not make a recommendation. That was the race between incumbent Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Many newspapers have done the same in recent years.
This time, the party lines are blurred, with a Democratic candidate who sounds like Ronald Reagan when the subject is Russia and a Republican candidate who expresses views on international military cooperation and trade that run counter to previous Republican positions.
But then Trump himself has reminded voters, more than once, that he is the candidate of what "is called the Republican Party, it's not called the Conservative Party." And Clinton has alienated her party's liberal wing by cozying up to Wall Street — so much so she may have trouble bringing supporters of her vanquished primary foe, Bernie Sanders, into her tent.
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Newspaper Endorsements
The Bakersfield Californian has decided not to make an endorsement at all:
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text:
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, delivered the following opening remarks at today's Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit hearing entitled "Rising Regulatory Compliance Costs and Their Impact on the Health of Small Financial Institutions"
Remarks as prepared for delivery:
This hearing will come to order. Over the last 10 months, the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee held a series of field hearings across the nation. Although the focus of each hearing differed, one common theme emerged: the pressure on small financial institutions is growing across the nation.
One of the most poignant comments I've heard during these field hearings was from a community banker who said "every banker knows that they will eventually have to consider the option of selling their institution to an acquirer unfortunately, the current regulatory environment is forcing many bankers to make these decisions prematurely."
This morning's hearing will provide all members of the subcommittee with the opportunity to learn more about the growing regulatory burden facing small and medium sized financial institutions. We are not here this morning to de-regulate the financial services industry; rather we are here to learn about the unique challenges faced by these institutions and the impact it has on the communities they serve. We must strike the appropriate regulatory balance and we must pay attention to the cumulative effect of regulatory burden. Outdated and unnecessary rules should be removed as new rules are implemented.
This is not a partisan issue. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner echoed many of these concerns in an August 2010 speech: "[W]e will eliminate rules that did not work. Wherever possible, we will streamline and simplify " Unfortunately, little or no progress has been made on streamlining and simplifying as many new rules and regulations are implemented.
I have serious concerns that the growing regulatory burden for small financial institutions will lead to further consolidation in the industry. Between 1990 and 2005 the percentage of banking assets held by the 10 largest U.S. banks grew from 10% to 55%. Small rural communities in states like West Virginia depend on community banks and credit unions. There is little or no incentive for larger institutions to serve these communities. If we do not take steps to ensure the future viability of small financial institutions the very communities they serve will be adversely impacted. Small town America cannot have a resurgence without the local community bank and credit union there to help spur economic growth.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. Their input will continue to help the subcommittee make informed decisions about the future of small financial institutions.
I now would like to recognize the Ranking Minority Member, the Gentlelady from New York, Mrs. Maloney for the purpose of making an opening statement.
Source: http://capito.house.gov/press-releases/capito-opening-statement-at-financial-services-subcommittee-hearing6/


text:
How to say pretend in Vietnamese prɪˈtɛnd
Would you like to know how to translate pretend to Vietnamese? This page provides all possible translations of the word pretend in the Vietnamese language.
Discuss this pretend Vietnamese translation with the community:
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"pretend." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2018. Web. 21 Feb. 2018. </translate/pretend/VI>.


text: GHRS Instrument Science Report 034 "GHRS Photocathode Flat-Field Maps" July 1991 By: Ronald L. Gilliland Abstract excerpted from the report: The first stage of the GHRS detection system consists of UV light sensitive photocathodes. Output from these two-dimensional photocathodes, in the form of an electron based image is ultimately detected using a one-dimensional digicon-diode array. A narrow slice from the photocathode (containing the illuminated spectrum in normal operation) is projected onto the digicon array via magnetic deflection control. Variations of sensitivity across the photocathodes (granularity) exist in several guises and are discussed in the GHRS Instrument Handbook. A general 2-D flat-field response map, sufficient for calibration is not available. The maps described in this report are sufficient for planning purposes of locating the position of particularly large sensitivity variations. It is the purpose of this report to document binary-format photocathode maps being made available through STEIS.


text:
Nuke Breakout Compositor
Key Purpose of Job
To simplify composite scripts and precomp elements of a vfx shot for layer logical stereo conversion, including
live-action and computer graphic elements. You must judge the best strategy to break down and render out
elements that complete vfx shots which are useful to 2d-3d conversion and maintain continuity between them.
Breakout compositors work closely with Stereo TD's, Stereographers, 2D Supervisors and Visual Effects
Supervisors and are expected to quickly understand composites on the most complex and demanding shots in
the film.
This role represents a unique opportunity to advance comp skills by examining and reverse engineering finished
composites from the most experienced compositors in the gold standard of vfx companies today
Needs to Do
- Work closely with VFX/Stereo Supervisor & Stereographer to evaluate the creative and technical approach.
- Take part in client reviews.
- Follow production methodologies and develop creative approaches and problem-solve.
- Foresee, troubleshoot and communicate potential problems.
- Constantly deliver excellent results with minimal supervision.
- Communicate and collaborate with other lead compositors, r&d, pipeline and other members of the VFX/Stereo Conversion team.
Needs to Be
- Pro-active
- Team oriented
- Adaptable
- Accept change
- Calm under pressure
Needs to Know
- You must have a minimum of 3 years VFX industry experience - feature film, commercial VFX or 3D feature
- animation.
- Expert theoretical knowledge of and ability to use Nuke.
- A knowledge and interest in photography and practical lighting is helpful.
- Critical eye for detail, and strong communication skills.
- Proven ability to work closely in a small team with tight schedules.
- Scripting or programming experience is a plus.
- Excellent understanding of VFX and stereography.


text:
The PSP/PSN "Free Game" Thing.
I've noticed that getting those free "Welcome Back" games isn't as easy as it seemed.
I'm downloading them now, but not without lack of some effort. Sure, they're on the main splash page of PSN, and yet when you click to download them…. Where did they go? And then they're gone as if they never existed.
If you did confirm your free goods, and can't find them for the life of you, here's what you have to do:
Get out of the store and follow these menus:
Account Management
Transaction Management
Services List
SCEA Promotions
Oddly enough, you get to download the games here. Sure would have been nice to specify instead of having to look up the info., wouldn't it?
Hope that saves some of you a little pain in being "Welcomed Back".
$250 for a Vita, you say? A portable Bioshock? Do tell more….