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I am going to talk about a four letter word. Help. Yes, I said it, help. That little word can mean so much, yet we seem to use it too infrequently, at least I know I do.
I have been that person who doesn't want to ask for help. I think I am capable of doing whatever needs to be done. I am strong-willed and a bit of a caregiver by nature, so I tell myself that I can do it all. I can be a supermom, a wife, a friend, and a caregiver and not think twice about it. Or can I? In reality, just being a mom is a daunting task. Add to that trying to have some "me" time, and things become even more difficult. Then throw into the mix having a mom with Alzheimer's and my life can be downright crazy.
As a caregiver you have to ask for help, there really is no other choice. As much as I wanted to believe I could do it all, I quickly saw that there was no way I could. Before Mom was even diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I had to ask for help from our family doctor. Mom was starting to admit some of the problems she was having. My family and my mom had just moved to Indiana, so we did not have a huge support base. I decided to start at the beginning with the family doctor and get his read. So, to the doctor we were going.
When I called to make the appointment, which I passed off to Mom as a checkup, I explained that I needed to talk to the doctor before we came in. I wanted to be sure that he knew that the visit was not for a simple checkup, but to get his opinion about her "state of mind." We agreed that he would treat this as a pre-screening for dementia or Alzheimer's.
Now, this may all seem quite sneaky, but it was what had to be done. Mom's safety was more important than this little white lie. I have been lucky enough that, for the most part, Mom always has been a partner in this journey, and she has accepted her fate with grace. But as agreeable as she was, she was still frightened about what they might tell her. Naturally so, but we had to get to the bottom of this and fast.
After the doctor had Mom answer a series of questions, and not have me answer for her, which is what I had been doing, I learned just what I was afraid of. She needed to go to a specialist to do an in-depth screening to see where her mind was.
I broke the news to Mom about what we were going to do. I told her that we had to see a geriatric neurological specialist who would be testing her for dementia and Alzheimer's. I could tell she was upset although she acted bravely. I think I was just as nervous as she was on the day we did the tests. It was like seeing a car coming before the crash, and we were about to get hit hard.
She was diagnosed with dementia with probable onset of Alzheimer's at 66 years of age. And so the journey began.
Help initially was not an option for me. I was going to figure this out. I wasn't even really dealing with my own emotions about the situation. I was simply in the "fix it" mode. I knew that there was nothing to "fix" with her diagnosis, but I was going to step in and be the one to do it all. Super mom at home and Super Daughter to her, because in my mind, she wasn't "that bad" yet. The truth is you don't realize how bad they are until they truly let you into their life. Over the years, Mom learned to compensate and therefore it was not always obvious how much she was struggling with everyday tasks.
I did everything for her-driving, appointments, bills, shopping- it all fell on me. Even social interaction was on me. Because we moved to Indiana only a few years ago, she really didn't have any friends. She had one lady that she would meet for coffee occasionally. This put the burden of getting out and having another adult for her to talk to on me. I was now in a world that had me feeling like I was in a cyclone, swirling from one task to the next. I had small children, a husband, dog and home and now a mother with Alzheimer's to take of. There was little or no "me time." I was going to need to ask for help. The role as Super Daughter was so easy. My kryptonite had found me and I was in need of other's help.
The first time I sort of asked for help was when I told the apartment manager where she lived about the diagnosis. The manager promised to keep an eye on her and call me if they saw anything strange. Then, with the urging of my sister, we hired a lady and friend to come and help out once a week. This was simply helping with mail, taking her out, going on a walk with her once or twice a week. She also checked in more frequently if I was out of town.
As I said, despite how difficult this was for Mom, she handled things with such kindness and grace. She turned things over to me quite easily. If my sister and I told her something needed to happen, such selling her car, she conceded. She really understood that we had her best interests at heart, thank goodness. Then it was time to contact the Alzheimer's Association. We wanted to enroll in their six-week class for loved ones of people affected with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. We had no idea what to expect.
We were one of four pairs that came regularly. The others were mostly husband and wife teams. We had dinner, learned about the disease- its stages, how to make accommodations, etc. - and we talked. It was a blessing. We were able to see others that were going through the same things. It was interesting to see how people's symptoms developed at different times. For instance, Mom was already having trouble reading, which was one of her favorite things to do. Yet, there was another man who could watch TV, read, and follow it all, but was having trouble walking and was losing his depth perception. We had a manual that we were able to take home and read and reference. Mom wanted to have that book all the time. I think she believed that knowledge was power. She often said that she wanted to know where she was in the stages.
Over the years the Alzheimer's Association has continued to help us. We had most of Mom's legal affairs in order already. She had given me power of attorney, we had done a living will and a health care power of attorney, but we saw what was coming for us. We knew that she would need to go into an assisted living facility and then into a more secure health care facility for the Alzheimer's. My sister and I wanted to make sure we figured out what we had to do with her assets and then eventually get her onto Medicaid.
The Alzheimer's Association was able to give us the name of an attorney who specialized in the elderly. We met with him and he complimented us on what we had already gotten done. He said, "You are about five years ahead of where most people are." You see, we made sure that we took care of things long before they became a problem. We were proactive and, man, did that help. This attorney continued to help us over the years. We had more meetings with him as her savings rapidly dwindled and Medicaid was becoming a priority. He answered questions for us via email when necessary. He stepped up time after time, he helped us immensely, and he did it all pro bono. We are so very grateful for his help. We know that we had one more person who had our backs when we needed help.
I cannot say enough about the caregivers Mom has had over the years while she was in assisted living, then the health center, and now in the locked down unit. They have comforted her when she was upset. They have been company when she wanted to take a walk and had to have someone with her. They have been super at communicating. All I had to say was, "I just want to sit down and tell you what I have been seeing going on with my mom. I want you to do the same." We would have those meetings to make sure we were on the same page, understanding what Mom wanted and needed at the time. They dance with her. They tell her she is beautiful. And they let her help, as she believes she has a job to do. She believes that she too has to take care of the other residents in her ward.
We can't do it all. We need help and it is okay to ask for it. Find a support group. Contact your local Alzheimer's Association chapter. Ask a friend, other family members, or someone at your church for help. Remember, others want to help you and your family. It makes us feel good to help others in need. So when someone asks what they can do for you and your family, tell them and accept the help with grace, just as my mom does.
Molly Godby lives with her family of four in Zionsville, Indiana. In 2007, her mother, Lee, was diagnosed with dementia with probable onset of Alzheimer's. Molly has been caring for her since. Molly is a stay-at-home mother of two. She enjoys writing, doing CrossFit and spending time with her family and friends. She also has a personal blog that you can read at www.abundantlyawesome.blogspot.com.
Conferences Give Caregivers Clarity in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Merrillville
Professionals and family caregivers are invited to attend the Alzheimer's Association Caregiver Conference in Fort Wayne on May 16, Indianapolis on May 17, and Merrillville on June 28. The conferences all are day-long events from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fort Wayne & Indianapolis
These conferences promise to give new insight to caregivers as our keynote speaker, Lisa Snyder, presents "What It's Like To Have Alzheimer's – Understanding Common Feelings and Experiences." This keynote session will give caregivers a unique opportunity to learn from someone who has been a pioneer in the Alzheimer's field by working with individuals with early-stage dementia, and learning what they think and feel as they live with the disease.
This conference will feature Teepa Snow and will cover a variety of topics that both professional and family caregivers will benefit from hearing. The sessions include "Managing Behavior – Start With Yourself", "Using Music – How to Make it Work, If you Are Not A Music Therapist", "Improving Your Hands-On Skills For Giving Care", and "Humor And Caregiving – Learning How To Laugh!"
In addition to attending the conference sessions, caregivers will have a chance to visit exhibitors to learn about local services that may assist them. Social workers and healthcare facility administrators will receive four CEUs.
Alzheimer's Symposium
On Thursday, June 13 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., the Alzheimer's Association will be presenting an Alzheimer's Symposium at the Kathryn Weil Center for Education in Lafayette.
Speaker Keven Dodt, M.D., is a geriatric physician with Franciscan Physician Network and will present an Alzheimer's review. Mary G. Austrom, Ph.D., is a professor of clinical psychology in clinical psychiatry at IU School of Medicine and an education core director at the Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center. She will present on effective communication with persons with dementia. Denise Saxman, L.M.S.W., is the associate director of care consultation and early-stage services for the Alzheimer's Association, and she will present on adapting activities to meet the needs of the person with dementia.
Professionals and family caregivers are invited to attend the free symposium. CEUs are available for a fee.
For additional conference or symposium details and to register, please call the Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline at 800-272-3900.
Porsche Enthusiasts Fight Alzheimer's
CruZionsville returns to Main Street in Zionsville this year with a $10,000 fundraising goal to support the Alzheimer's Association. Stephen Tarr, the event's organizer, said community support drives this third party fundraiser's success.
Q: Why did you start CruZionsville?
A: The Central Indiana Region of the Porsche Club of America wanted to create a car show that would really engage the community, provide visibility for a very important cause and bring kids and adults together who enjoyed looking at automobiles over the weekend of Father's Day!
Q: Why did you choose to donate funds to the Alzheimer's Association?
A: This is such a debilitating disease, and most everyone has had either a family member or friend stricken with this disease. We feel it is important to help generate funds for this important cause.
Q: What are some things people should consider when hosting their own fundraiser?
A: Know your community and engage them in the cause in a way that can be fun and focused on a meaningful outcome.
Q: How difficult is it to host your own fundraising event?
A: It takes a lot of nice people who believe in what you are doing to make an event like this successful. We continue to grow it each year, and last year we had participants from five states bringing their cars! I am really proud of our Porsche club members, merchants and members of the Zionsville community who have worked so hard over the last year to help us make this upcoming event so successful.
Q: Why is it worth it?
A: We believe that the cause is so important and the need so great to help cure this disease that it is totally worth it! We believe it is a great way to introduce kids and adults to unique race cars and beautiful automobiles that are fun to drive and own.
For more information on CruZionsville, visit www.cruzionsville.com.
To learn how to host your own third party fundraiser, click here.


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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The New Albany Shale formation in southern Illinois could produce anywhere from a few thousand jobs to more than 40,000 jobs, but too little is known about the formation to be sure, according to a study paid for by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
The study, conducted by an Illinois State University economist, was released Thursday. The chamber said it hopes the work helps shape legislation that lawmakers currently are working on to regulate controversial drilling techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing. The study focused on shale gas production, not oil.
And the state Geological Survey's director said Thursday — even as petroleum industry land men scramble to find parcels of land to explore — there's at least some reason to think the shale formation might never be a major producer of shale gas.
The study by economist David Loomis acknowledges the unknowns about the formation and how productive it might be. But the exploration and, if it happens, subsequent production could generate anywhere from about 1,000 jobs and $1 billion for the state to more than 47,000 jobs and $9 billion.
"That high-end number seems quite reasonable to what other states have already experienced," he said, referring to shale formations in states such as Pennsylvania that are now producing high quantities of natural gas. "We feel like these are very conservative estimates of the impact that could come from shale gas."
Chamber member Tom Wolf said the business group hopes lawmakers consider those potential effects as they work on Senate Bill 3280. The legislation would set up regulations for hydraulic fracturing, which detractors call fracking, and other drilling techniques that would be used to explore the New Albany formation.
"The industry's at the table because they want a road map that helps them in the long term," Wolf said, adding that the oil and gas industry hopes to talk the state out of setting fees to mitigate wear and tear on roads and impacts on the environment before it knows what the formation might produce. "What I'm trying to avoid is impact fees and taxes based on the hope that this (drilling) will come about and that would scare people away."
Illinois Geological Survey Director Don McKay cautioned that the formation may never be capable of producing a boom, based on the work of the agency's recently retired expert on the subject, David Morse.
"His assessment is that our New Albany Shale resource in Illinois probably doesn't contain a lot of gas," McKay said. "Our shale because of its geological history was not subjected to the high temperatures for the long range of time that would be required."
Recent advances in hydraulic fracturing and other techniques have spurred interest in Illinois' portion of the New Albany Shale, about 5,000 feet beneath far southwestern Illinois. Federal government estimates put the shale's potential production at levels far below those in boom areas such as the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.
But the interest in the industry has spurred talk from both lawmakers and critics about the drilling techniques, which environmental groups say can pollute water supplies.
The Sierra Club, which has pushed for strong regulation in Illinois, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Others, like the grassroots group Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing our Environment, want fracking banned until its environmental consequences are sorted out. That group also didn't immediately respond to a call for comment.
The state Senate passed SB 3280 earlier this year but the House never acted. The bill is being amended, said McKay, who is part of a group that's looking at the legislation. The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Mike Frerichs, a Democrat from Gifford in eastern Illinois, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wolf said early versions of the legislation included provisions the industry couldn't live with, such as not drilling a thousand feet or more away from surface water.
Neither Wolf nor McKay knew how quickly the legislation could move next year in Springfield.
"The 'white smoke' from Springfield could be days, weeks or months ahead," Wolf said. "I hope it's one of the first two options."

subset: commoncrawl


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life is way to short to work all of it!
Lived in Perth Australia from age of 4, but born in Kent, England.
Got the travel bug and after realising there must be more to life than 9-5 sat behind a desk
Now living in England for a couple of years loving the travel life. Every day is a holiday even when im at work! Much different to my attitude before setting off.
Any sport activities. Any reason to be competative!
Anywhere with ski fields
Australia (have lived there most of my life so its pretty good)
Anywhere that furthers my experience of the world and makes me say 'WOW, thats amazing'
12 Aug 2011 - 21 Feb 2012
Visiting: United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Peru, El Salvador, USA, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Antarctica, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and India.
21 Apr 2011 - 24 Jul 2011
Visiting: United Kingdom, Iceland, Russia and Ukraine.
22 Mar 2011 - 28 Mar 2011
Visiting: United Kingdom and Switzerland.
All Trips by dbgomes (40)
dbgomes hasn't been active in the wiki travel guide yet. Have you?


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I am building a Porsche RS61 for the upcoming Porsche/Ford Proxy which I started to share over in the proxy forum. I was not entirely happy with the shells that are available so I decided to build my own master. Inspired by Clive I downloaded some plans and set about to carve the body from a block of balsa.
Using my Dremel saw I cut out the profiles using the plan templates as a guide. It was then just a case of rounding the corners and getting the lines looking correct from photos of the prototype.
Added the rear deck
Sealed the wooden master and painted it in primer. Used an exacto knife to scribe in the lines.
Since this picture was taken the master had more paint and polishing and I also made the lines a little more crisp. I enlarged the rear radiator openings as well ( sorry no picture)
I built a Lego mold box and the Silicone was poured this morning. I use Smooth On Oomoo 25. It sets up fairly quickly (6 hours) and works well for me, This master is smooth with no severe undercuts and I should be able to pull a lot of resin shells from it. Should be able to have some pictures posted of the first shells tonight.
I am probably going to build multiple chassis for this project in an effort to build a fast car. The car is small though, and even fitting a 130 style motor is really going to be a chore. I may default to the small cans and just give up on building a fast car, and go for trying to build a show car.
Sorry for the multiple post on the same subject , but I believe the build on the proxy forum would end up pretty dispersed by the time I get this done. I will post the final result over there.
This master has gone a little better then I thought, and I am thinking a Ferrari 250 SWB is on the agenda. This is another body that I love and I have not been able to find, so am thinking I may try carving one myself. However I will stay focused on the RS61 until it is completed


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Talk about reason to celebrate! Not only did Max's Wine Dive give Goodtaste.tv its famous fried chicken recipe, but Max's fun San Antonio Cellar Classic wine event is right around the corner. If you've ever had this fried chicken, you know what all the buzz is about. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and served with a delicious chipotle-honey sauce. So, what pairs perfectly with fried chicken? Champagne, of course! And, the folks at Max's Wine Dive always have it available by the glass.
Back to that fun event…the two day celebration sees more than 80 different premium wines, signature foods, and plenty of live music hitting the Alamo City the weekend of October 12-13. I'll be pouring my favorite wines of the event at the Grand Tasting on Saturday…drop by and say hello. It's going to be great fun. Plus, Goodtaste.tv viewers can get a ticket discount on the Grand Tasting all the way up to event day! Cheers!
Also, be the first to see the beautiful renovations to San Antonio's historic Aztec Theater – It's the site of our next Goodtaste Girls' Night Out on Wednesday, Sept. 12. Tickets available online here.
For more great recipes, wine and beer pairings head to Goodtaste.tv. Sign up for our newsletter for a chance to win a relaxing weekend at the Westin La Cantera Hill Country Resort. Follow me on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.


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I write in response to the report carried in The Lawyer (5 November) under the byline of Backstabber.
While the report correctly states that the media was not permitted to attend the general meeting of the International Bar Association, which last month elected Dianna Kempe QC as secretary-general, in claiming that a "strict press exclusion zone" was imposed, your magazine is providing its readers with a wholly biased report of events.
In line with the IBA Constitution, the general meeting may be attended by those eligible to vote, namely organisational members and senior representatives of the three sections, as well as members of the IBA Council, deputy secretaries general, assistant treasurers and honorary life members.
Individual members of the IBA and other parties – including non-members and the media – are not eligible to attend, although members are informed of proceedings.
Far from your reporter's claim that IBA officials at the 26th Biennial Conference in Berlin were "worried that some of the blood would spill out under the door", the full breakdown of the vote for secretary-general was announced at the meeting in order to enable each of the section officers and deputy secretaries general to inform the membership.
Your publication and a number of other organisations were informed of the overall number of votes cast, and of the fact that Mrs Kempe had received a majority greater than the 60 per cent required to win the election in the first round.
Ross Harper
Immediate past president
International Bar Association


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As Savannah Schroll Guz observed in last year's Best Databases article, "not all databases are created equal." And don't librarians know it. Last fall, when we asked for your best-database nominations, we heard from public, academic, and legislative librarians—even a prison librarian—and all had strong views on what made the grade.
The overall winner, Credo Reference, and runners up Fold3 and Web of Knowledge headed a list of resources from the well-known—Gale Virtual Reference Library, Encyclopedia Britannica—to esoteric favorites such as Rock's Backpages and Visual DX. The resulting article was one of our most popular last year.
It seems clear that it was useful to you (12,500 page views can't be wrong!), so we're doing it again. And, again, we're asking for your input. Were you wowed by any new databases this year? By resources that have been around a while but that you hadn't used before? Or did you find new reasons to appreciate last year's winners?
We're looking for nominations in the categories listed below (or feel free to make up your own) and a short explanation of what makes the resource "most-improved," "best buy," "most ambitious," etc. A bulleted list of reasons is fine. We'll be using your reasons as direct quotations within the article itself, which will appear in print in the November 1, 2012 reference supplement and then online. Nominations will close on October 3, 2012. However, please let me know if you are not comfortable with being quoted directly.
Suggested Database Categories:
Greatest Content Upgrade
Greatest Usability Revamp
Most Ambitious (in scope or content)
Most Improved (overall)
Best Integration of Media
Most Unlikely Hit (with users)
Most Elegant (aesthetics and functionality)
Best Buy
Best Integration of External/Outside Content
Best Original Content
Your Patrons' Favorite Database(s)
Take it away! The comments section below will be perfect for getting the ball rolling, or I'm at email@example.com. Thank you in advance for your nominations.


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Referral Strategies and Marketing
What exactly is a referral system? Do you need one for your business? More importantly, do you already have one? A good definition for referral marketing follows:
To design a great referral marketing strategy and system for your business, start by answering a few basic questions.
Sometimes marketers and business people talk about word-of-mouth as a source of business. You need to be careful to understand that referral marketing and word-of-mouth are not the same thing. Word-of-mouth referrals are typically left up to the customer. The business owner has very little if any control over when or even if any of his customers make a recommendation for his or her business. Typically, word-of-mouth referrals come up as part of everyday or ordinary conversations between two customers rather than as a system or process built by the business owner. If someone asks, "Where did you get your hair cut?" that can be an opening for a word-of-mouth referral. You tell your friend or colleague that you got your hair cut at a certain location and then talk about the experience. Whether or not your friend goes to the same place for a hair cut is more or less random. If they happen to need a haircut and they trust your opinion, they might go to the same place. But, there is no incentive for them to do so.
With referral marketing, you the business owner have more control over the outcomes. You are asking your customers specifically for one or more referrals from people they know and you are providing incentives for them to make those referrals. This is much more proactive than waiting on a chance word-of-mouth conversation. You can also provide incentives for new customers that are referred to you by your current customers. One way to bring the referrals in to your business is to tell your current customers that you have a special deal or offer for anyone they refer to your business.
You do need to make certain that you and your business have the reputation and service that your customers want to refer to their friends and colleagues. If you are an auto shop and fix a customer's car, if that car keeps running and the repairs are done properly, then the customer will feel much more confident about making referrals. Remember that you are asking your customers to refer you to their friends and colleagues. Their reputation is on the line too as well as yours.
Your referral system has to be systematic as well. By systematic, we mean consistent execution over an extended period of time. For example, do you know how you will collect referral information? Will you ask your customers to refer their friends and colleagues by themselves? Or, will you ask your customers to give you their friend's contact information so that you can follow up? These are important parts of the system that you need to put in place and you need to make these decisions so that you and your staff or employees are doing the same things in getting referrals from customers.
If you let customers make referrals on their own, then you need to provide them with a way to let you know that they have made a referral. This can be as simple as a pre-addressed postcard that the customer can use to provide you with information about their referrals. It's also important to keep track of referrals so that you can reward your customers for their efforts. If you and your staff are keeping track of referrals and new customer contact information this can also be as simple as recording referral information on a card or ledger of some form. Then you will need to keep your customers informed of any follow up with their referrals and progress toward receiving the incentives you provide. Either way, these are important pieces of building a great referral marketing system.
You and your business can also get referrals from complementary businesses. Let's look at a couple of examples on how this might work. For example, let's say you have a plumbing repair service company. As you make plumbing repairs in people's houses you have an opportunity to take notice of conditions there. Maybe it looks like the carpet needs to be cleaned. Or perhaps the garden and flower beds are not in good condition. If you have a referral program with a carpet cleaning service and a gardening or landscape service, you can make referrals to these other two businesses. It's always best of course to ask the customer or homeowner before making a direct referral. If you have been in business for a while, it will be easier to talk to customers that you know well or your best customers and ask if they would like a referral to one of the other businesses you represent. Some of the same principles we've discussed about being referable apply here too. If you are referring your customers to another business, you want to make sure that you know that business well enough to understand how they will treat your customers. And, remember too that some people will agree to a referral and some will not. And, that is okay. The outcome will be similar for your customers. Some will give you referrals and some will not. That is okay too. The point is that you need to have a systematic approach to referral marketing.
Why is referral marketing so important?
There are several reasons and we'll work through a couple of examples on how much impact referrals can have on your business, but first consider the following.
Let's work through some of the specific numbers and examples related to referral marketing systems. By the time we are done, you will begin to see the power of referrals and how you can grow your business in a BIG way FAST. And, all of this of course will get you that much closer to achieving your dividend objective and profit goals for your business.
To properly assess the impact of referral marketing on your business, fill in the blanks for the following questions:
How many years have you been in business? ___________ (Let's assume 5 years)
Here is what you can do with this information:
Your total business costs each year total $200,000 – the total of advertising plus other expenses.
If you have been in business for 5 years, then your total investment so far is $1,000,000 ($200,000 x 5).
For your 1,200 customers, each one is worth $833 ($1,000,000 divided by 1,200) or stated another way, you have invested $833 in each customer to this point.
Can you sell your business for 1M? No? Can you sell it for 500K? Maybe…No. What about 250K? Yet, this money (1M) been through you till and out to pay for your business expenses!
Does it make sense to Maximize that investment in your business?
Now consider the value of referrals. What if only half or 50% of your customers are willing to make referrals to your business. To start with that is 600 customers that sign up for your referral program. You provide free gifts, special rewards, and VIP recognition as incentives for these customers to provide you with referrals and implement a systematic effort to recruit customers to your referral program. In actuality not everyone that signs up for your referral program and incentives will wind up making referrals for you and your business. Let's assume that only half of the original number actually make a referral to your business within a reasonable period of time. This final number will be 25% of your beginning base of 1,200 customer, or 300 customers in total that are actively making referrals to your business. What happens to your business if each of these 300 customers refers 4 friends or colleagues to your business over the next year? If that happens, you will now have 1,200 (300 x 4) NEW customers to go with your 1,200 prior or existing customers.
By using a referral marketing program you could have DOUBLED the size of your business.
And, all it took to accomplish that was a systematic, consistent approach to asking your current customers for referrals. Of course, you had to follow up with each new customer and close the sale. But, that is part of your business operations and requires no special effort beyond what you would do for a new customer anyway.
And, what happens if each customer makes more referrals? Or, what happens if more of your customers actually follow through and make referrals than the 25% we have assumed here? Are there ways to help customers make more referrals? Consider the following table of results when you build your own referral program.
Think about providing different levels of incentives – I've used silver, gold, platinum, and diamond below.
Now you can see the power in referral marketing. As more customers make more referrals, there are BIG increases in the size of your business that can result. If half of the customer base we used in our example calculations made 15 referrals each over the next year, your business would increase 750%. Would you like to have a business next year that is 8 times the size of the business you have this year?
It becomes that much more important to also recognize the value of your current customers. You have invested a lot to get them as customers. Providing incentives to them – and you know your business and customers well enough to know what kinds of incentives are appealing to them – in relation to the value they can bring to you and your business through referrals makes good business sense. Most of us would like to have more new customers that we can obtain inexpensively and have them spend more than other new customers. At some point, your new customers today will also be the customers that make referrals for you in the future too. Referral marketing can be the engine that drives substantial growth in your business not only in the short-term but also in the long-term. If you don't have a referral program today, it should be one of your top priorities.
Like this article? Get more sharp and to the point business boosters newsletter here.
Categories:Referral Strategies, Special Offers, Strategic Business


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At the great pyramid of Giza just outside the teeming Egyptian capital, Hamed, a souvenir-seller sits alone.
His stall usually throngs with tourists paying homage to the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
But today, like every day for the last year, it's slim pickings. The tourism industry in Egypt has all but died.
"I've seen tourists come and tourists go, in the bad and good times," he said, waiting hopefully.
Now the Government is going all out to win tourists back.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed declared his country secure, saying tourists were always welcome.
"Egypt is where history started — it has so many things to share," he said.
"Egypt has always been safe."
Egypt's tourism minister Yehia Rashed
PHOTO: Egypt's tourism minister Yehia Rashed insists the country is safe for holidaying. (ABC News: Asmaa Waguih)
Mr Rasheed said his country was a victim of double standards, suffering from unfavourable travel warnings and the cancellation of direct flights.
"Countries should not exercise bans on travel that are unnecessary. You should basically consider that we — and the whole world — are facing a global threat," he said.
"That threat has no borders."
But it's a hard sell.
The world has not forgotten the deadly attack on a safari tour in Egypt's western desert last September. A dozen people, including eight Mexicans and four Egyptians, were killedS.
Survivors claim Egyptian security forces had bombed their convoy five times over three hours from a helicopter, mistaking the entourage for militants.
The company that organised the trip had received clearance from Egypt's tourism police to go to the area. But this was not enough.
"In my work I know that if someone goes into the desert they need permission from military intelligence — and not just from the tourism police which is just for the roads," said ElHamy ElZayat, the head of the Egyptian Tourism Federation at the time of the incident.
Barely a month later, a passenger flight was blown to bits over the Sinai Peninsula. Early on the morning of October 31 last year the airbus crashed after taking off from the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh destined for St Petersburg.
All 224 passengers and crew were killed. Within hours Egypt's Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility.
But it was months before President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi finally acknowledged that it was a terrorist attack.
Most of the victims were Russians returning from holiday.
In the immediate aftermath, Russia, the UK and other European countries stopped direct flights to Sharm El-Sheikh. Despite a specialist UK team reviewing and upgrading safety procedures, they have not resumed.
At its peak in 2010, Egypt's tourism sector employed more than 10 per cent of the country's workforce and raked in $US12.5 billion, a tenth of the country's GDP.
However, political instability since the ousting of dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011 has continued to severely erode the country's reputation.
Tourist arrivals fell 60 per cent over the last year.
Thousands involved in the sector have lost their jobs. Revenue has plummeted, savaging an already faltering economy. The Egyptian pound lost 15 per cent against the US dollar in March this year alone.
Tourist towns are particularly feeling the pinch. About an hour north of Sharm El-Sheikh is Dahab, once a Bedouin fishing village and now an exquisite diving destination on the edge of the Sinai.
It is renowned for some of the best reefs in the world, a laidback atmosphere and budget lodgings.
But even it is suffering. Restaurants and hotels that stretch along the kilometres-long corniche are almost empty.
Sheikh Nasser, a hotel owner and respected Bedouin elder, insists the South Sinai region is safe — despite the downing of the Russian plane.
For decades the Bedouin tribes of the peninsula have worked with the country's security services to ensure safety.
"Tourists are very important and people can see that there isn't a problem," Mr Nasser said.
He draws a line between this area and the northern Sinai, where an Islamist insurgency carries out regular attacks against security forces.
"Between here and North Sinai is about 500 kilometres," he said.
Geertrui Poelaert, a Belgian tourist, agreed. She was holidaying alone in Dahab, undertaking diving and yoga courses, and wasn't worried.
"I feel safe, it is cheap and I would definitely recommend it to friends," she said.
Ms Poelaert is bearing in mind the major terrorist attacks which convulsed France and her own country, as well as the US and other nations.
Egypt's claims that it is relatively safe do not seem unreasonable in that context, but they have mostly fallen on deaf ears.
Now it is swinging into action, aiming to attract large tourist numbers again.
A website launched in 14 languages last week, as part of a campaign to modernise and diversify the tourist industry.
"It is of vital importance to ensure that we give the world the chance to enjoy our treasures," Mr Rashed said.
Though there's a big lull at the pyramids right now, Hamed remains optimistic.
Sitting at his stall just like his father, and his father before him, he said philosophically: "It is lean now, but I know where I am. They will return."


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Lesbian/ Exhibition
Madison finds herself in a nightclub in an awkward position, forced to do something she'd never thought of before in order to make money and to kick start her career in acting. Even if it's not the role she was hoping for... she's going to give it all she's got anyway.
My Review:
While no sex actually appears in this story, it's still an incredibly hot short showing two girls getting frisky on the dance floor. Not only is Girls on the Prowl arousing because of its lesbian action, it's also arousing because of the exhibitionist elements and because this is a new experience for the characters. Brianna has come up with an interesting idea for a creative short, and she has delivered on that idea.


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Google's Android 4.4 KitKat update is more about "Android TV", less about smartphones
With all the info that leaked about Android 4.4 KitKat release, it doesn't seem that it will be a major smartphone OS upgrade.
Some internal tweaks, a few new features, maybe some interface polish with a little borrowing from iOS 7, and that's about it. At least for smartphones.
However, the smartphone part might be the least interesting part of KitKat update. Korean ETNews reports, that the main focus of the new Android OS release are not smartphones, but connected smart TVs instead.
According to their industry sources, Google, with KitKat, has greatly improved big screen UI/UX, and interactions/interface between TVs and smaller smart devices running Android. Changes in TV app development environment are on the way, too.
As previously reported by Gigaom, Google will also change the branding of its smart connected TV efforts, from Google TV to Android TV. According to ETNews, LG, who has been making Google TVs since last year, have received the guidelines to change the branding to "Android TV".


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Rhinoplasty In-depth
'If you are contemplating a 'nose job', Toronto Rhinoplasty surgeon Dr. Lawrence Tong can help you attain your goals'
- Introduction
- What does a Rhinoplasty do?
- Who is a candidate for Rhinoplastyr?
- Issues to Considered about Rhinoplasty
- Open vs Closed Rhinoplasty
- Rhinoplasty Incisions
- Rhinoplasty Procedure Details
- Recovery after Rhinoplasty
Often referred to as a 'nose job', Rhinoplasty is not only popular with Hollywood celebrities, but it has become an established procedure for anyone wishing to improve the appearance of their nose. First described in Indian medical texts dating back to 500 B.C., Rhinoplasty is one of the oldest plastic surgery operations, yet it is also one of the most difficult to master.
Toronto Rhinoplasty surgeon Dr. Lawrence Tong has extensive experience dealing with primary Rhinoplasty (first-time Rhinoplasty), secondary Rhinoplasty (Rhinoplasty for patients who have had prior Rhinoplasty), and treating complications related to Rhinoplasty. He can guide you on the various options for your concerns.
What does a Rhinoplasty do?
Rhinoplasty is a procedure that can improve the appearance of the nose and the function of the nose as well. The procedure primarily involves reshaping the cartilage and bone to achieve these goals.
Who are candidates for Rhinoplasty?
Almost anyone with a legitimate concern about the appearance of his or her nose could benefit from cosmetic Rhinoplasty. Patients may seek a dramatic difference in the overall look of their nose, or they may just want a small degree of change.
Here are some common reasons why you may want Rhinoplasty and how the procedure can help:
- Your nose looks too large for your face: overall nasal dimensions can be made to look smaller
- Hump on the nasal bridge: bridge is made straight
- Fat, round, or undefined nasal tip: tip is made thinner, sleeker, more defined
- Wide nose: nasal bones are thinned, nostrils made less wide
- Nose sticks out too much: nose is deprojected for better facial proportions
- Nasal tip points downwards: tip is elevated and slightly upturned
- Crooked nose (naturally or from accident): nose is straightened
- Crooked septum: septum is straightened, breathing may be improved
Other Candidate Criteria:
- Patients should be old enough so that facial growth is completed (usually mid-late teens)
- Smokers should quit smoking at least 2 weeks prior to surgery
- Patients should be generally fit and relatively healthy; Dr. Tong will always assess your general health and suitability before undergoing any type of surgery
- A patient should have realistic expectations about what can be accomplished with Rhinoplasty
Issues to be Considered about Rhinoplasty
It is important know all information regarding previous Rhinoplasty, nasal surgery, or nasal injury. The presence of these factors can make a straightforward Rhinoplasty more challenging.
It is helpful to have a sense of what you would like changed or improved. Try to list at least one or two things that you would like to change about your nose. From there, Dr. Tong can discuss his findings, and formulate a personal Rhinoplasty strategy for you. Dr. Tong can provide computer imaging of possible surgical outcome if requested. It is important to note that computer imaging is an estimation of what might be accomplished surgically, and should not be taken as an implied or explicit guarantee of results.
In analyzing your anatomy, Dr. Tong may recommend a chin implant is if he feels your facial profile would benefit from one.
Open vs. Closed Rhinoplasty
There are two methods of performing Rhinoplasty: open and closed. These terms refer to the way in which the underlying cartilage, bone, and soft tissue are exposed to allow for the procedure to be conducted.
Open Rhinoplasty
In open Rhinoplasty, the framework of the nose in fully exposed.
- Advantage
- Disadvantage: there may be more swelling that takes longer to resolve after surgery
- Open Rhinoplasty is preferred in: cases of revision (redo) Rhinoplasty, significant asymmetry, unusual anatomy, or when there is a need for very precise modifications.
Closed Rhinoplasty
The closed technique is the more traditional method of Rhinoplasty that has been popular for decades. It involves making fewer incisions in the nose, and performing the alterations to the framework without seeing the structures directly.
- Advantage: less swelling and less incisions
- Disadvantage: it is less precise, and the range of options to manipulate to the framework is not as great
- The closed method is preferred with: straightforward primary (first time) Rhinoplasty that does not need significant tip alteration.
When you come in for Rhinoplasty consultation, Dr. Tong will give his recommendation about which technique would be best for your goals.
Incisions for Rhinoplasty
Any surgical procedure will leave some type of scar. Dr Lawrence Tong specializes in obtaining the least visible scars, and putting them in the least visible places. The incisions for open Rhinoplasty are all inside the nose except for a 2-3 mm incision across the columella (the central tissue that separates the right and left nostrils). It hides well because of its location, and this single scar tends to be almost invisible once healing is complete.
The closed technique of Rhinoplasty only utilizes internal incisions
Dr. Tong will explain the different techniques if you are a candidate for one or both methods.
Details of the Rhinoplasty Procedure
Dr. Tong can perform the Rhinoplasty procedure under two types of anesthesia: general anesthesia or IV sedation (twilight) anesthesia. During the time you are under general anesthetic, you will be asleep and completely unaware of your surroundings. If you are under twilight anesthesia, you may be aware that you are undergoing surgery from time to time during the procedure, but should feel no pain. Your surgery is conducted in the private surgery centre within the medical complex where Dr. Tong's plastic surgery office is also located, in Yorkville.
Dr. Tong starts your Rhinoplasty by making small nasal incisions, and exposing the underlying nasal cartilage and bone. Maneuvers are then performed as needed, in order to remove the hump, refine and elevate the tip, decrease (or increase) the projection, and reduce the width of the nose. The surgical maneuvers vary, depending on the individual case.
The hump is removed by shaving cartilage and bone. The appearance of the nasal tip is altered to improve definition by removing, stitching, or adding cartilage in the tip area. The septum is straightened, as needed (again through removal, bending, scoring, or reinforcing the cartilage). The nasal bones are often repositioned slightly to achieve a thinner, more elegant look.
After the last stitches are placed, you will be placed in a special protective Rhinoplasty dressing (nasal splint), and then gently awakened from anesthesia.
Recovery after Rhinoplasty in Toronto
Our nurses will monitor you in the post-anesthesia recovery area, following your Rhinoplasty. You will be allowed to go home once the effects of anesthesia have worn off, accompanied by your friend or family member.
Once at home, you need to relax and protect your nose from being injured. You may perform non-strenuous activities such as watching television, and reading. You should expect your nose to feel very stuffy, as most patients will breathe only through the mouth during the first week. Pain is typically mild to moderate. Pain medication will be prescribed, and may be used during this time. You may have bruising around the eyes in the first 1-2 weeks. The majority of patients return work (non-strenuous) at 7-10 days.
Dr. Tong will see you at one week to have stitches and the special protective dressing removed. You will likely be allowed to start light exercise (e.g. waking) at 1-2 weeks after surgery. Avoid strenuous activity until 4-6 weeks after surgery, especially sports where you could be hit in the face (e.g. hockey, basketball). After the initial post-surgical visit, you will follow-up visits with Dr. Tong at 6 weeks, 6 months, and one year after surgery. Post-operative photos will also be taken at these visits.
It is important to stress that the nose may look fairly swollen initially. This is entirely normal and it takes between 6-8 weeks for a majority of the swelling to resolve. Even beyond this, full resolution of the swelling can take 12 months or more. As the swelling subsides, you will notice that the nose gradually becomes thinner and smaller, with the tip taking the longest to fully settle. Patients like the look of their nose right after surgery, but the appearance will still slowly continue to improve as time goes on, until it reaches its final form.
As with any surgery, there are risks involved with Rhinoplasty. Although the procedure has a low risk profile, Dr. Tong will make sure to go the pertinent potential problems associated with Rhinoplasty at the time of your consultation.
Become Educated about Rhinoplasty in Toronto
Our goal is to make you an educated patient. We know that an educated patient will make intelligent choices about their surgery, and their surgeon, too. The initial consultation usually takes over 45 minutes to complete. You will never be rushed or pressured to make a decision. There is a good deal if information to digest during your initial consultation, and Dr. Tong will make sure that you understand every import detail.
To learn more about how Dr. Tong can help you with improving the appearance of your nose, set up a Toronto Rhinoplasty consultation with Dr. Tong by giving us a call at (416) 972-0999. Alternatively, let us give you a call; just fill out our contact form and we will call you on the same or the next business day. No physician's referral is needed.
See Dr. Tong's work in our Rhinoplasty before and after photos.


text: It's Works for Me Wednesday!! And today I'm sharing something that was shared with me and I tucked it away to share with YOU! It's the best list of uses for home items that I've come across yet. So, I hope you all soak it up and that it works for you as well! If you're looking for other things that work for other people head over to ROCKS IN MY DRYER where you'll find HUNDREDS of people telling the bloggy world what works for them.


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Best 5.1 music mix ever?
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Yukon, Oklahoma
Posts: 80
Re: Best 5.1 music mix ever?
The first 8 track tape I ever purchased was DSOTM. I already owned the vinyl but needed something to play on my Lear Jet deck installed in a '65 GTO the same day as acquiring the aforementioned tape. I've worn out 2 vinyls, numerous cassettes and now possess 3 CD versions. Of the 3, I prefer the Mobile Fidelity Master Recording 2ch version. Although the SACD surround mix has some interesting effects, I've become so accustom to the 2ch mix that it just doesn't feel right in 5.1.
In 1974 I was auditioning speakers and was shown a quad set up with 4 Advent bookshelf speakers. The Music was DSOTM. That's been a few years ago, but the impression it left has stayed with me for all of them. I don't think I've ever heard Pink Floyd sound that good even up till now. I bought a pair of those same Advents a couple of years later.
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BEIJING — Thick, off-the-scale smog shrouded eastern China for the second time in about two weeks Tuesday, forcing airlines to cancel flights because of poor visibility and prompting Beijing to temporarily shut factories and curtail fleets of government cars.
The capital was a colorless scene. Street lamps and the outlines of buildings receded into a white haze as pedestrians donned face masks to guard against the caustic air. The flight cancellations stranded passengers during the first week of the country's peak, six-week period for travel surrounding the Chinese New Year on Feb. 10.
The U.S. Embassy reported an hourly peak level of PM2.5 — tiny particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the lungs — at 526 micrograms per cubic meter, or "beyond index," and more than 20 times higher than World Health Organization safety levels over a 24-hour period.
Visibility was less than 100 yards in some areas of eastern China, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. More than 100 flights were canceled in the eastern city of Zhengzhou, 33 in Beijing, 20 in Qingdao and 13 in Jinan.
The government said that because there was no wind, the smog probably would not dissipate quickly.


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The Principles of Policing
I certainly don't wish to be mistaken for endorsing this view; but police activity actually follows the 'principles of policing' fairly closely if you consider the police to be acting for a 'public' that is smaller (and whiter and wealthier) than the population as a whole.
Only terminally dumb PDs (like that little speed-trap-shithole in Florida that managed to be so corrupt that the state legislature abolished them...) make the mistake of trampling on the consent and cooperation of Good Decent Folks. More usually cops(along with prosecutors, DAs, and the like) actually have a pretty good nose for social status and work to police by the consent of people who actually count, and either get away with (or are actively celebrated for) repressing the inherently dangerous and disorderly elements who are too low on the totem pole to count as constituents.
(Consider, by way of example, the intensity of the backlash against automated red light cameras vs. that against 'stop and frisk'. The latter is far more invasive; but the former lacks 'discretion' and gives people who would otherwise enjoy a cooperative relationship a little taste of what colliding with an actively indifferent and/or hostile justice system looks like.)
(Just an edit/clarification: This is not to minimize the importance of Peel's reforms: rather, my position is that Peel's policing model has been so sweepingly effective that the bulk of what we think of as deviations from it are really better understood as disagreements over who 'the public' is and who is inherently and irrevocably 'crime and disorder'. This isn't universal, occupying armies exercise police-like functions, and police officers commit private homicides, become moles for the mob, or turn into a drug gang, LAPD style; but the more likely scenario(and the more dangerous one; because there will be minimal public pressure against it) is not that a given police force fundamentally abandons 'the public'; but that 'the public' is interpreted to not include blacks, or hippies, or anyone who ever smoked a joint, or what have you.
This attitude is starkest in the 'getting those animals off the street' rhetoric: this is an explicit policing-by-consent between the police and the non-animal public to pursue their shared goal of protection against 'animals' who are by definition incapable of being members of the public.)
Wow. Good point.
Every organization starts its existence with similar pretty language. And then reality sets in. From that charter to Jean Charles de Menezes in 170 years... How does a community return to sanity once it gets that bad?
Sounds like a police force is only as egalitarian as the group it serves. I think it needs to be more so.
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It was very saddening to read the article in the Feb. 6 paper, "Youth minister charged in fight." While the church's job is to draw people to Jesus so that they might come to understand their purpose in life, we have to keep in mind that Jesus is perfect and people are imperfect.
The church has an invisible adversary (Satan), who is the master of deception. After reading the article, it appears that the adversary successfully deceived people in the church to believe that other people were the adversaries instead of himself.
Though some in the church were deceived that time, the church must resolve that we will not fall for this trick of the adversary again. If someone offends us, Jesus tells us that we must forgive him or her. If we offend someone else, Jesus tells us that we must seek his or her forgiveness.
I am praying for those in the church, as well as those who were formerly in the church, that they both might come to a realization of who the real enemy is and unite against him instead of allowing him to cause such strife and division. This saddens Jesus, as well as those who are wise enough to know the tactics of the enemy and how he loves to try to divide and conquer.
I wonder if I can get others to join with me in praying for these people and sincerely offering our services to help bring about reconciliation.
Jasper Green, Belvedere, S.C.
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How often you go to the dentist can predict not just income, but social class, political orientation, even what part of the country you live in
There's seemingly no end to the economic, political, and cultural divides that separate Americans: Republican vs. Democrat, religious vs. secular, beer vs. wine drinkers, Starbucks vs. Dunkin' Donuts, NPR vs. the NRA, NASCAR vs. World Cup Soccer. But data released this month by the Gallup Organization shows a stark new axis of socioeconomic cleavage: those who regularly go to the dentist, and those who do not.
Derived from a large-scale database of some 177,000 interviews, conducted as part of the ongoing Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the map below shows how the 50 U.S. states stack up in terms of the frequency of visits to the dentist. The variation across states is considerable. People in Massachusetts and Connecticut were much more likely to have visited the dentist over the course of the last 12 months than those in the South. Gallup notes that dentist office visits tend to track income level and health insurance coverage. The states whose residents are most likely to visit the dentist have some of the lowest uninsured rates in the nation.
With the steady statistical hand of my colleague Charlotta Mellander, I decided to take a closer look at this state-by-state pattern, comparing the Gallup-Healthways data on dentist visits to key economic, social, demographic, and political features. With the caveat that these are only associations and cannot be presumed to have a causal relationship, the strength of the correlations is astounding—among the highest we have seen in any analysis of this sort we have undertaken.
Income is key, as the Gallup-Healthways study surmised. People see a dentist more frequently in higher-income states. The correlation between the two is considerable (.66). But income is not the only factor to play a role. Using a statistical technique called partial correlation analysis, we can control for its effects and see how important other factors are. All the correlations we report below have income factored into the equation.
Dental visits closely track socioeconomic class. They are much higher in states where a higher percentage of the workforce is employed in knowledge, professional, and creative work. The creative class is significantly associated with dentist visits (.31). The same is true of the share of college graduates, a measure of the knowledge base and human capital in a state. The correlation between dental visits and college grads is even higher (.65). On the flip side, visits to the dentist are negatively associated with the working class share of a state's workforce (-.28).
Income inequality in the U.S. has worsened over the past couple of decades, with the rich getting richer and the share of Americans in poverty increasing substantially. Income inequality also factors into oral health. Dental visits are fewer in states with higher levels of income inequality. Income inequality (measured as the Gini coefficient across states) is negatively associated with going to the dentist (-.63).
The combination of rising poverty, fewer jobs and the economic crisis means that many Americans are working longer hours to make ends meet. Oral health is negatively associated with working hours (-.74).
While some have argued that race is diminishing in importance, it remains a significant fault line in American life. And so it is with oral health. Dental visits are positively associated with the percent of the population that is white (.3) and negatively associated with the share that is black (-.6).
The Gallup study notes the connection between poor dental health and other health problems.
Poor oral care can lead to many potential negative health outcomes. When combined with other risk factors, poor oral health can be linked to heart disease, stroke, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes, among others. Maternal periodontal disease, too, has been linked to preterm births.
We find close associations between oral health and two key health factors: smoking and obesity. Visits to the dentist are negatively associated with both smoking (-.55) and obesity (-.6). Not surprisingly, more frequent dental visits are associated with higher levels of overall happiness and subjective well-being (with a correlation of .57).
Oral health also reflects the underlying divide between Red and Blue America. Oral health is positively associated with states that voted for Obama in 2008 (.38) and negatively associated with McCain states (-.42).
Access to dental care stands as a remarkably stark divide in American life, but it shouldn't come as a surprise. More than four in ten Americans pay their dental bills themselves, compared to just 10 percent of doctor's visits, and the past decade or so has seen a vicious "oral cost spiral," as June Thomas points out, with the costs of dental care far outpacing both the rate of inflation and overall medical cost increases. With incomes falling, unemployment rising, and poverty increasing, dental care has become a "luxury" that fewer and fewer Americans can afford—and this despite the high premium that we put on appearance. "We rarely think about our teeth, but without them many of us would be up a creek socially and economically," writes Ylajali Hansen at Generation Bubble. "For many Americans, a tooth can make the difference between security and destitution. That's right: lose a tooth in the United States and you lose your chance to live the dream. Poverty and emotional desolation follow soon upon the unfortunate loss."
It's getting so that your smile alone is enough to tell people not just how much money you make, but your social class, political orientation, and even what part of the country you live in. And for far too many Americans, there's less and less to smile about.


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2012 Archives
October 10, 2012
An event, Tip-Off at Moody, will be held on Wednesday (Oct. 10, 2012) to recognize donors and celebrate a new era for SMU Athletics and Moody Coliseum.
"The generous support for the Moody Coliseum renovation and expansion and the Mustang basketball program signals a new era for SMU athletics," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "These enhancements will strengthen the Moody Coliseum experience for student-athletes and fans as well as the many community members who visit the Coliseum for a host of events."
Construction has begun on the first phase of the $47 million project, which will include courtside retractable seating for students as well as new club seats, premium seating in private suites and loge boxes. The project also includes a three-story addition with new event and hospitality space, new team offices and locker rooms, renovation of the entry lobby, concourses and concession areas, new video boards and sound system. The coliseum will close in March 2013 for major interior renovation and will reopen in December 2013.
Each May the coliseum is transformed to host SMU Commencement as well as graduation ceremonies for thousands of area high school students. Four U.S. presidents have spoken at Moody Coliseum, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Poet T.S. Eliot also spoke to audiences there. Other events, such as installation of United Methodist Church bishops and Highland Park United Methodist Church Easter services, have taken place at Moody.
Moody Coliseum also has been the venue for bands such as The Rolling Stones, Three Dog Night, The Grateful Dead, Queen, U2 and Pearl Jam. Dallas' first professional basketball team, the Chaparrals, competed at Moody along with professional tennis players at the Virginia Slims and WCT professional tennis tournaments. Cheerleading, basketball and volleyball camps, Boy Scout conferences and fundraising dance marathons also have taken place at Moody Coliseum.
In April 2012, The Moody Foundation made the lead gift of $20 million to the renovation and expansion, followed by David B. Miller and Carolyn Lacy Miller who gave $10 million.
Recent donors of $1 million or more to the Moody Coliseum renovation and expansion project include:
In addition, new gifts to SMU's Basketball Circle of Champions totaling more than $2 million will be recognized at the event. The Basketball Circle of Champions is a visionary group of generous and dedicated SMU alumni leaders who are committed to building on the storied foundation of SMU basketball and returning it to the forefront of collegiate basketball. Their support allows SMU to provide the best coaching staff and programs for student-athletes, thereby increasing opportunities for success.
New $1 million donors to the Basketball Circle of Champions include:
"Moody Coliseum has long held the reputation as one of the greatest venues for sporting events, both for fans and athletes," says SMU Athletic Director Rick Hart. "When this project is completed, Moody moments and memories will continue for fans and athletes for years to come."
# # #
SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.


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The Iran Obsession - What ails the Kingdom of Saud?
The grand hegemon of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has long used its status as an oil superpower and its religious clout in the Islamic world to sit as a titan over the region and as a strategic ally for western powers.
And while many imagined the kingdom untouchable and absolutely powerful by the sheer strength of its economic might and reach of its political alliances, WikiLeaks, maybe unwittingly, has divulged an interesting chip in the kingdom's armor.
If Saudi Arabia has been keen to project itself onto others as secure, in control and endlessly wealthy, its officials, it appears, have lived in fear of Iran, obsessing over its political, religious and economic pull in the region, forever working to undermine its standing within the world community; as if Saudi Arabia's life expectancy was tied to the rise or fall of the Islamic Republic.
And though Saudi Arabia's antipathy towards Iran has left very little to the imagination over the decades, the depth and length the kingdom went to in order to feed the anti-Iranian train and thus sabotage any hope of a bridge in between the two peoples, let alone the rest of the western world, cannot be put down to a simple religious disagreement or even upset political ambitions. Saudi Arabia's hatred for Iran is more than just a little psychotic, it has defined the kingdom's foreign policy and translated at home into a violent sectarian vendetta.
Lo and behold, Iran has become the capital state of Shia Islam.
But can a religious dispute and the need for theological vindication ever truly justify such ire and loathing for an entire people - Shia Muslims? Or is there more to Saudi Arabia's paranoiac fear of Iran?
While no exact tally of Saudi Arabia's religious patronage exists, it is thought that the kingdom invested an excess of $100 billion over the past three decades in exporting fanatical Wahhabism - its own home-grown, honed and state-approved interpretation of Islam - to a flurry of "sympathetic" organizations worldwide.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia engaged in a vicious campaign against Iran, its appointed religious nemesis and political adversary. It is important to remember that where Saudi Arabia sits its institutional legitimacy on its monarchical roots, imposing its religious vision to the whip of its lashes, Iran has risen since 1979 a Republic and a pluralist democracy. Everything Iran became and stands for, whether religiously, socially or politically, is a negation of Saudi Arabia, and there lies Riyadh's fear.
And while of course, Iran cannot, and actually does not claim to own any absolute political truth or perfect social formula, it is far from being the evil Riyadh has worked so very hard to paint. Iran's image has been so distorted and manipulated under Saudi money that most Iranians and to an extent Shia Muslims do not recognize themselves, nor their values, in the propaganda weaved and disseminated by Riyadh's pawns.
WikiLeaks most recent "release" opens the lid on a veritable trove of documents, each painting a new shade of Saudi fixation with Iran and Shia Islam. The Saudi Foreign Ministry dedicated an incredible amount of resources toward not just monitoring but falsifying and undermining Iran's efforts to get back to the world political roundtable.
From a nuclear Armageddon to cries the world could soon be made to bow to Shia Islam should Iran be allowed to breathe easy, Saudi Arabia played fears and religious prejudices to its advantages, splashing petrodollars to soothe politicians' doubts and silence the opposition.
Arguably, the real threat to peace and stability is Saudi Arabia. If not for Riyadh's institutionalization of ethnic bias and religious intolerance, the Muslim world would have remained true to its pluralist traditions, thus leaving little room to extremism.
As Michel Kaplan, an associate with the Sana'a Institute for Arabic Studies, noted, "Riyadh's recent initiatives against Iran have included undermining foreign officials and media opposed to the kingdom's narrative. Such propaganda remains to this day unmatched in its scope and reach. So much so that Saudi Arabia's reality has become people's truth."
But Iran's nuclear deal and its anticipated return within the fold of the international community upset Riyadh's design rather dramatically.
And where nations sighted in relief before such a colossal diplomatic achievement, comforted in the idea that the drums of war had receded in the distance, if anything for a moment at least, the kingdom only flexed its muscles further, determined to break the Iranian momentum in its infancy.
Saudi Arabia's next move would betray exactly its intentions.
Just two weeks after Western nations and Tehran struck a deal to limit Iran's nuclear program, Saudi Arabia went on a military shopping spree, signing deals with the US for the delivery of yet more Patriot Missiles. But that is not all.
Following the visit in France, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman returned home with several billion dollars worth of aircraft and energy contracts, thus signaling a shift in Riyadh's foreign policy and attitude towards the US. Riyadh and Washington's love affair is souring.
With or without the US, Saudi Arabia will remain at war with Iran.
And while many were left under the impression that Riyadh's hatred towards Iran was very much US-oriented, it could be instead that it was Riyadh embedded animosity vis a vis the Islamic Republic which fed America's mistrust.
In any case, dynamics are changing and it is likely the Middle East will witness a dramatic political shift as a result.
And while Saudi officials have drummed into diplomats' ears that they worry Iran will use the nuclear agreement to deepen its involvement in Arab affairs as sanctions are lifted and its economy and revenue expand, Riyadh's propaganda machine is slowly grinding to a halt.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.


text: I often find the simplest outfits are the most stylish. Here I paired my favorite pair of black leather pants with a simple v-neck grey sweater, a gold chain, and a hat my friend picked up for me in Panama. The look has muted colors and emphasizes texture and detail to distinguish itself. This feels…Read More


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We are so happy to be starting a new year in the garden! It's an exciting time to see so much change around the school, with peeks of green returning after the cold winter, and the kids able to run around in something besides snow pants!
We are working on many different areas of the garden this spring, including new raised beds! The beds are built using lasagna methods, also known as "no-dig" gardening or sheet mulching. On Helping Hands Day, many of our school dads worked hard layering newspapers, manure, compost, leaf mulch, peat moss, straw, and garden soil to make these amazing beds for our classes.
We are also working on our in-ground garden beds, in which we'll be growing fruits and vegetables for school snacks, as well as flowers and herbs for our local pollinators.


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Southsea: Hometown Instagrams
We've lived in Southsea for one whole year today. I've been bicycling and instagramming my way around Portsmouth, from summer days at the bandstand to chilly prom cycle rides on boxing day, and I thought I'd share some of my phone camera snaps. I can't wait for another summertime by the seaside.


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Photo credit: StockFood / Maria Brinkop
Chocolate and cheese. British chefs dig them together, in such wild desserts as a molten chocolate blue cheese cake. Murray's Cheese Shop in New York City sells a Mast Brothers dark chocolate–infused triple-cream cheese. Some scientists even that say dark chocolate and Parmesan are fated to be together.
The combo may sound funky, but Bedford Cheese Shop cheesemonger Laura Archer has been into it ever since she downed a glass of chocolate stout while nibbling on a piece of blue cheese about two years ago.
"That kind of piqued my interest," Archer told us. Since then, she's become an advocate for pairing dark chocolate with dry, sharp cheeses such as Parmesan or Pecorino or pungent ones like blue cheese. "It's a salty and sweet kind of thing," she said, though she admits some customers get a funny look on their faces when she suggests the pairing."They tell me, 'I never thought of that!'"
Archer advises choosing a bitter, dark chocolate over a creamier variety. "The sweetness and the fungal notes of, say, blue cheese work well with the bitterness and richness of dark chocolate," she said. "[It's] not because I dislike milk chocolate… [but] pairing milky stuff with milk-based products is almost redundant on the palate."
Archer makes one exception with Nutella, which is made with skim milk. "I have definitely dipped Parmesan in Nutella before and I didn't hate it," she admitted.
If you're trying the combo at home, Archer suggests eating one substance and then the other—don't stuff both in your mouth at the same time. "Try and get the unique flavors before combining them," she said. (We'll try to pretend like we haven't done the opposite before, as with these addictive dark chocolate–blue cheese truffles!)
As far as food trends go, this one may be among the easiest to execute at home. So go ahead, throw a dinner party and give your guests a little shock at dessert time: Pair a stinky blue Stilton with a bitter, 70-percent cacao chocolate bar. They'll thank you for it later.


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Turkey Curry Meatballs
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Click the heart, it's called favoriting. Favorite the stuff you like.Got it!
Author Notes: A couple months ago I had a package of ground turkey in my fridge that baffled me. I even food pickled it. Anyhow, in spite of everyone's fantastic answers (not for naught!) I came up with this. We've had them a couple times since. I'll add they are really good served with the sauce from Midge's okonomiyaki. —Summer of Eggplant
Makes 2 dozen
- 1.3 pounds ground turkey
- 2.5 teaspoons curry powder (I used Penzey's Singapore Seasoning)
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons panko
- 1 inch hunk of ginger minced
- 1 green onion sliced in half lengthwise and chopped
- 1 shallot, chopped fine
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- 1/2 a red jalapeno seed removed, minced
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- vegetable oil
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over a medium-low heat, add the shallot and ginger and saute for 2 minutes. Add in the onion and the pepper and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes. The purpose is to get everything soft but not crispy. Remove from the heat.
- Meanwhile mix together the egg, turkey, curry powder, panko and lime juice. When the onions, pepper and ginger have cooled add them to the mixture and make 1" meat balls.
- Wipe out the pan and add another 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat. Working in batches (about 3 so you don't over crowd the pan) cook the meat balls until they are cooked through, about 7 minutes.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Thanksgiving Turkey
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Pub Food
More Great Recipes:


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It's Cool To Be Kind: Our Interview With Ellie Kemper
February 15 2018
Longtime runner Ellie Kemper charms our socks (and running shoes!) off.
When DOROTHY BEAL entered our Skechers GOrun Cover Model Contest six months prior, she didn't think she had a chance of becoming a finalist. But thanks to thousands of votes from our readers, Dorothy is now a star. On a steamy Saturday in New York City, the Women's Running team welcomed our winner to the set of her first-ever photo shoot!
Photographer James Weber shot Dorothy is his personal studio (jamesweberstudio.com). To get the lighting just right, he set up folded foam core, then he instructed Dorothy to run toward the camera. "This is harder than it looks," Dorothy laughed, as she tried to smile wide, run forward, look at the camera and keep her arms steady all at the same time.


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I do not want an account under wordpress anymore. There is no way the contract is legal and binding - it's a BLOG service, for crying out loud. If I don't want to have an account with them anymore, they should not be able to stop me from leaving. So how does that happen?
Thank you.
The blog I need help with is nicolapilates.wordpress.com.


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PEBBLE BEACH – The scenery, the history, the trophy – Kirk Triplett could get used to this.
Triplett has won twice in 37 starts on the Champions Tour. Both victories came at Pebble Beach, including Sunday's two-shot triumph on a spectacularly sunny day on the Monterey Peninsula.
Triplett's bogey-free, final-round 68 left him at 11-under-par in the First Tee Open, good enough to hold off Dan Forsman (69), Doug Garwood (69) and third-round leader Tom Lehman (74). Triplett also won this tournament last year, in his inaugural appearance.
So could he soon initiate a friendly chat with Mark O'Meara, widely known as the Prince of Pebble Beach for his five wins in the AT&T Pro-Am?
"You don't talk to him until you win five or six times," Triplett said. "And that's the AT&T, so it's a whole different deal."
Pebble Beach still isn't a bad place to build a pattern of success. Triplett traced these back-to-back titles to his history in Northern California, dating to his college days at the University of Nevada in Reno – when he played in several amateur events in the Monterey area.
That launched Triplett's education in the distinctive whims of NorCal golf. He and his college teammates played Spyglass Hill, the Olympic Club and even Pebble every now and then. They quickly learned the golf ball just doesn't carry in the cool air the way it does elsewhere.
Triplett sharpened his local knowledge with annual appearances in the AT&T. He tied for second in 1994, the year Johnny Miller won at age 46.
"I just have a great affinity for this place," Triplett said. "I know how the course is going to play."
Sunday's conditions tested Triplett and other Champions Tour players chasing the $270,000 winner's check. The wind was tricky and the fairways and greens were fiendishly firm, making it difficult to hold approach shots.
"We're playing the First Tee Open and the U.S. Open breaks out," Triplett said.
One example: He knew he couldn't keep his tee shot on No. 17 on the green. Triplett decided he'd rather play from the front bunker than the back rough, and that's where he ended up after his 5-iron tee shot came up just short. He hit a nice bunker shot to 3 feet and saved par.
Still, the tournament turned on No. 14, the daunting uphill par-5. Triplett and Lehman were tied for the lead when they arrived at the hole one group apart. Triplett stuffed his pitching-wedge shot to 1 foot for an easy birdie and Lehman found trouble left of the green and made bogey.
That quickly, Triplett led by two.
Lehman had one last chance to make a charge, after a good tee shot on No. 17. But he 3-putted to essentially fall out of contention.
Triplett and Palo Alto teenager Michelle Xie (pronounced She-ah) also teamed to win the pro-junior competition at 18-under. Xie, 15, is a junior at Palo Alto High, a 4.0 student and owner of a plus-1 handicap.
But she only played Pebble Beach for the first time last week. Xie didn't complete her practice round there, so Saturday's second round marked her first full, 18-hole experience on the storied links.
Not surprisingly, she battled nerves all weekend.
"It's scary – so many holes are next to the ocean," Xie said. "I hit it in plenty of bunkers, but no ocean."
BRIEFLY: Fred Couples (76) and Nick Price (75) both finished back in the pack and then bolted for Ohio, where they will be opposing captains in this week's Presidents Cup. … Forsman, who grew up in the Bay Area, tied for second to climb from 35th to 28th on the money list. He needs to stay in the top 30 to qualify for the Schwab Cup at Harding Park (Oct. 31-Nov. 3).


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You are hereHome
Ascoli-Arzel\`a theorem
Primary tabs
Ascoli-Arzelà theorem
Let be a bounded subset of and a sequence of functions . If is equibounded and uniformly equicontinuous then there exists a uniformly convergent subsequence .
A more abstract (and more general) version is the following.
Let and be totally bounded metric spaces and let be an uniformly equicontinuous family of continuous mappings from to . Then is totally bounded (with respect to the uniform convergence metric induced by ).
Notice that the first version is a consequence of the second. Recall, in fact, that a subset of a complete metric space is totally bounded if and only if its closure is compact (or sequentially compact). Hence is totally bounded and all the functions have image in a totally bounded set. Being totally bounded means that is sequentially compact and hence has a convergent subsequence.
Mathematics Subject Classification46E15 no label found
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Fiji Time: 2:00 AM on Monday 26 February
/ Front page / News
Avinesh Gopal
Monday, June 23, 2014
+ Enlarge this image
Peoples Democratic Party leader Felix Anthony. Picture: JONACANI LALAKOBAU
THE People's Democratic Party will have a land policy that is fair to landowners and tenants if it wins the general election and forms the new government.
"The Land Use Decree has been very insensitive and it has basically taken away the rights of landowners," said PDP leader Felix Anthony.
"We want to see a land policy in place that is fair to landowners and tenants.
"This has to be done through dialogue between the stakeholders. It can't be imposed. This kind of policy we have right now is not sustainable. It will create more social unrest and distrust between the landowners and tenants."
Mr Anthony also said the PDP would reinstate the disbanded Great Council of Chiefs if it came into power after September 17. "That's what people want because chiefs play an important role in tradition and culture. We need the chiefs.
"The PDP government is going to work closely with the GCC. We want to see the GCC playing a greater role in the economic wellbeing of their people."
After spending a week in Suva holding meetings, the PDP leader will be in the Northern Division this weekend then travels to Ovalau to meet party supporters there.
Use the free Acrobat Reader to view.
FJD to VUVFJD to TOPFJD to SBDFJD to WSTFJD to PGKFJD to XPFFJD to CHFFJD to SEKFJD to LKRFJD to ZARFJD to PHPFJD to PKRFJD to NOKFJD to INRFJD to DKKFJD to CADFJD to HKDFJD to SGDFJD to JPYFJD to GBPFJD to EURFJD to CNYFJD to NZDFJD to AUDFJD to USD
VUV to FJDTOP to FJDSBD to FJDWST to FJDPGK to FJDXPF to FJDCHF to FJDSEK to FJDLKR to FJDZAR to FJDPHP to FJDPKR to FJDNOK to FJDINR to FJDDKK to FJDCAD to FJDHKD to FJDSGD to FJDJPY to FJDGBP to FJDEUR to FJDCNY to FJDNZD to FJDAUD to FJDUSD to FJD
Exchange Rate updated on 23rd, February, 2018
Copyright © 2014, Fiji Times Limited. All Rights Reserved.


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Redfish CourtbouillonINGREDIENTS:
2 large onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 28-oz. can whole tomatoes
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
8 redfish fillets
Add 3 tablespoons oil to a heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions, bell peppers, and celery. Saute vegetables until wilted, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove vegetables from skillet and set aside.
Return skillet to stovetop. Make a roux with the remaining oil and flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is a dark brown, about 15 minutes. Add the wilted vegetables and cook about 5 minutes longer.
Add the tomatoes and juice. Zest and juice lemon and add to the mixture. Add garlic and bay leaves. Simmer for 45 minutes until the courtbouillon thickens.
Add the green onions and cook an additional 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Season the redfish fillets with salt and pepper. Place the redfish fillets into the courtbouillon. Cover and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes until the fish turns opaque.
Serve over hot rice.
You must be signed in to review this recipe.


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The Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android provides seamless and secure remote access to enterprise networks. AnyConnect allows installed applications to communicate as though connected directly to the enterprise network. AnyConnect is a sophisticated networking application that also allows you to set preferences, control the appearance and operation of AnyConnect, and use diagnostic tools and facilities on your device as recommended by your administrator.
AnyConnect may be used in your enterprise in conjunction with Mobile Device Management software. If so, work with your administrator to abide by device management rules since these rules may include restricting VPN access to a set of approved applications. Your organization may provide additional documentation on using AnyConnect for Android.
Your Android App Store provides the application for initial installation and all upgrades. The Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) is the secure gateway that admits access to the VPN, but it does not support updates of AnyConnect for mobile devices.
Galaxy Tab devices with Intel Processors must use the AnyConnect ICS+ package.
|Galaxy Tab 7 (WiFi only)
|Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus & 7.7
|Conquer 4G
|Galaxy Tab 8.9
|Galaxy Appeal
|Galaxy Tab 10.1
|Galaxy Beam
|Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
|Galaxy Exhilarate
|Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
|Galaxy Mini
|Galaxy W
|Galaxy Note
|Galaxy Xcover
|Galaxy Note II
|Galaxy Y Pro
|Galaxy Note III
|Galaxy Note 10.1
|Galaxy Rush
|Galaxy S
|Galaxy S II
|Stratosphere II
|Galaxy S III
|Transform Ultra
|Galaxy S 4
|Galaxy S 5
|Galaxy Stellar
HTC AnyConnect supports the HTC product lines listed at http://www.htcpro.com/enterprise/VPN.
Devices must be running the minumum software required. Go to Settings > About phone > Software information > Software number to determine the software number running on your device.
Cisco AnyConnect (Kindle Tablet Edition) is available from Amazon for the Kindle Fire HD devices, and the New Kindle Fire. Anyconnect for Kindle is supported by the Android VPN Framework and is equivalent in functionality to the AnyConnect ICS+ package
AnyConnect ICS+ offers VPN connectivity supported by the Android VPN Framework (AVF) in Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or later.
The AVF provides only basic VPN connectivity. The AnyConnect client, dependent upon these basic VPN capabilities, is unable to provide the full set of VPN features available in the brand-specific packages.
Cisco recommends the AVF AnyConnect client for unsupported devices running Android 4.0 or later. Supported devices should use the brand-specific AnyConnect client regardless of the version of the Android operating system.
AnyConnect for Android is available for download only from the Android Market. You cannot download it from the Cisco website or after connecting to a secure gateway.
|Step 1
| Determine if
your device is one of the supported devices and install the appropriate
brand-specific AnyConnect package.
Cisco provides brand-specific AnyConnect packages that offer full-featured VPN connections for these devices. These brand-specific AnyConnect clients are provided in partnership with the device vendors and are the preferred AnyConnect clients for supported devices.
|Step 2
|Determine if
your device is running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or later to install
AnyConnect ICS+.
This AnyConnect client offers VPN connectivity supported by the Android VPN Framework (AVF) in Android 4.0 or later. AVF provides only basic VPN connectivity. The AnyConnect AVF client, dependent upon these basic VPN capabilities, is unable to provide the full set of VPN features available in the brand-specific packages.
|Step 1
|Tap the AnyConnect Icon to start the AnyConnect app.
|Step 2
|If this is the first time that you are starting AnyConnect after installing or upgrading, accept the displayed End User License Agreement to continue.
|Step 3
|Tap Add New VPN Connection to configure a connection entry. See Adding Connection Entries Manually for details.
|Step 4
Menu and choose:
Follow instructions provided to you by your administrator to configure and establish a VPN connection to your network.


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Waubonsee Community College average ACT score
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Information about Waubonsee Community College average ACT score, and registering for discussion sections and department seminars. As a student, your first stop should be the registrar's office, where you can pick up a free copy of both the academic calendar and course catalog, in order to find available credit classes that you may be interested in taking. Consult with an academic advisor, to ensure that your chosen classes constitute a full-time course load, and fulfills major requirements. Finally, check with the admissions office for assistance with prerequisites, tuition payment deadlines, and Waubonsee Community College act exam information. Please use the form above to request admissions info for Waubonsee Community College.
Regarding whether to choose the SAT or ACT, there is no penalty for guessing wrong answers on the ACT, but on the SAT, incorrect guessing is penalized. Some SAT questions can be trickier while some ACT questions may be longer. The ACT has more questions geared to higher levels of mathematics, suggesting that students who do well in math may perform better, but that the SAT may be a better choice for students with a strong vocabulary.
Most colleges accept either the SAT or ACT, and have formulas for converting test scores into admissions criteria. One benefit of the ACT test is that it allows you to select specific colleges to which to send scores. Students should practice taking the test under simulated testing conditions, and wear a large watch with a sweeping second hand. On average, over half of those retaking the SAT or ACT tests saw improvements in their scores. Beyond degree requirements such as Waubonsee Community College ACT Test, you may consider Becker College special topics for complementary electives to your primary course of study.
Admissions Coordinator
Unitek College
Adhere to Unitek College Admissions Code of Conduct at all times. Admissions Report generation. Enter admissions representative performance data.
5 days ago Student Services Technician
Maricopa County Community College District
Knowledge of the philosophy and principles of a Learning College. Working within a learning college environment, this position serves as first contact for..
4 days ago Retention Specialist
San Mateo County Community College District
San Mateo County Community College District values the principles of diversity and equity. Exchanges information with students, faculty and staff.
6 hours ago Enrollment Services
The University of Pittsburgh
Making admissions decisions; The ESM creates and provides a wide array of counseling and consultative services to prospective and current students and their..
1 day ago Student Affairs Advisor
UC San Diego
Knowledge of UC policies and procedures related to graduate education including admissions, diversity, student services, and other related topics.
1 day ago


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Welcome to the BLOOP Comic website!
Having made with that compulsory nicety, you will quickly find that it is not always the case but often enough to necessitate this . . .
WARNING: The content of this site is often Crude, Profane, Vulgar and / or Offensive! The word 'crass' has often been bantered about (mostly by pseudo-intellectual women . . . mostly)! So 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here' and proceed at your own risk!
NEWS: January 23, 2011
So I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress and it crashed my old BLOOP site beyond repair by my meager web design / coding abilities! Fucking WordPress! Luckily, I am anal about backing up files, so I scrapped the old site and created this one using ComicPress and my backed up Comic Files.
This new site has been improved a bit over the old site. Comics are organized in a bit better fashion and you can get around the site using the: Menu Bar at the top; the Navigation Buttons under each comic (including a cool 'random comic' button) or via the BLOOP Archive.
Thanks to all of you who made comments on the old site! However, I have closed comments for this site because I received literally thousands of spam comments which was boring to sort through by hand (asshole spammers). If you really want to comment, just hit the FaceBook 'like' button and comment there! If you want to contact me directly, hit the 'ABOUT' page in the menu bar for my contact info.
I hope you like the BLOOP site but if not you can always go fuck yourself!
Cheers (using 'Cheers' is so pretentiously lame and gay),
PS Need a good lawyer? I for some reason, I always do!
Check out: The Houser Law Firm