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RePEc Genealogy page for Oscar Martinez
This page traces who advised whom during graduate studies for Oscar Martinez (RePEc Genealogy, EconPapers, IDEAS). You can help amend this and other pages of this project here. You can also look at the page's history.Graduate studies
Oscar Martinez got the terminal degree from Departamento de Economía, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain in an unknown year.Advisor
- No advisor listed, help complete this page.
- No student listed, help complete this page.


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Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in the challenge to the University of Texas's consideration of race in its undergraduate admissions program. The ruling is a limited win for those who want a truly colorblind society.
Texas adopted a plan in the mid-1990s that automatically admitted Texas students in the top 10 percent of their high school class to all state-funded universities. Following a 2003 Supreme Court decision that authorized schools to consider race or ethnicity as a "plus factor," the University of Texas began subjecting applicants for the remaining spots to a holistic review that included preferences for underrepresented minorities. Abigail Fisher, a white applicant, challenged the university's consideration of race after her application for admission was denied.
The Court ruled that the lower courts were too deferential to the university's judgment upon reviewing its admissions plan. The Court has previously stated that racial classifications are constitutional so long as they pass strict scrutiny review, which requires that the university prove that the classification is "narrowly tailored to further compelling governmental interests." "On this point," the Court held that the university is entitled to "no deference." The Court noted that strict scrutiny review must not be "strict in theory but feeble in fact." Fisher's case will head back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for this more searching examination.
In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and again in Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court acknowledged that achieving diversity in the student body of state-run universities can be a compelling interest to the extent that it furthers the school's educational goals. However, when schools use race-conscious admissions plans, they may not use racial quotas and must "remain flexible enough to ensure that each applicant is evaluated as an individual and not in a way that makes an applicant's race or ethnicity the defining feature of his or her application." Although state schools do not need to exhaust "every conceivable race-neutral alternative," there must be "no workable race-neutral alternative [that] would produce the educational benefits of diversity."
In today's decision, seven justices signed on to the majority opinion, with only Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissenting. (Elena Kagan recused herself due to her work as Solicitor General while the case was pending before the Fifth Circuit.) Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas declared that they were prepared to overturn Grutter, and Thomas, a staunch opponent of racial preferences, argued that "only a social emergency rising to the level of imminent danger to life and limb" might be a compelling enough interest to justify racial discrimination.
While today's decision is somewhat of a compromise, it is still a victory for defenders of equal protection. The Court reiterated that it is "irrelevant" that racial preferences "may seem benign" and that courts should not defer to governmental actors simply because they had a good faith reason for resorting to racial discrimination. When the government gets in the business of sorting people by race or ethnicity, the courts should provide real oversight rather than rubberstamping racial preferences that actually do more harm than good.
As Chief Justice John Roberts stated in the 2007 Parents Involved case: "Racial balancing is not transformed from 'patently unconstitutional' to a compelling state interest simply by relabeling it 'racial diversity.'… The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

subset: commoncrawl


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The wisdom of crowds: the many founders of post-Christian religiosity
I am here as a representative of the
largest faith community in this country, viz. the ex-Catholics. That is not a
community with a sense of unity and structures of its own, like the Catholic
Church. As a leading unbeliever in this country used to say: "No, freethinkers
don't need structures of their own. It's not because diabetics get together in
their own self-help group, that non-diabetics should likewise get together."
So, I have not been mandated to represent the millions who fall in the category
of ex-Catholics, I am only representative in the sense that I am a typical
case. I am an apostate, I no longer espouse the beliefs I was brought up with.
An earlier generation of ex-Catholics, when they were still a small minority of
the Belgian population, often became anti-Catholic, anti-Christian and
anti-religious with a vengeance. Today's far more numerous ex-Catholics no
longer have serious accounts to settle with the Church of their childhood.
They, i.e. we, are simply sceptical of its defining beliefs. No hereditary sin
of Adam and Eve, no virgin birth of Jesus, no resurrection.
Not that we reject everything about Jesus. He's
still popular for some of his sayings, especially when he was being
anti-authoritarian like ourselves, when he went against the stifling weight of
tradition and prejudice. But Son of God, no, most baptized Belgians don't
believe this anymore. That defining belief of Christianity is doubted now even
by many of those who still go to church on Sundays. I understand that Muslims
likewise venerate Jesus but reject his divine status. This at least proves that
it is possible to be religious and yet not believe in Jesus as the divine
One component that recurs in many though not
all religions is God. People who have had bad experiences with a tough and
authoritarian religion, tend towards a wholesale rejection of religion,
including and especially God. They find something heroic in atheism, like
standing on top of a mountain with no one above you. Or as John Lennon used to
sing: "Above us only sky." To assert human freedom, they would find it a
crucial point to reject God. In Jean-Paul Sartre's words: "Si Dieu existe, l'homme est un néant. Si
l'homme existe, Dieu n'existe pas." Among ex-Muslims, this is still common, e.g. Ayaan Hirsi Ali describes
her discovery of atheism as a liberation.
By contrast, now that Catholicism has lost its
teeth, most ex-Catholics don't bother to rebrand themselves as atheists or
God-deniers anymore. The anti-authoritarian generation dislikes the idea of a
monarch in the sky, but then He can be redefined as something hazier,
genderless, faceless, a mere "something". We are the Something-ists. If you ask
us whether we believe in God, we say: "It depends how you define God."
Tongue-in-cheek, God is still okay, though the old expression "the fear of God"
can now only be used in an ironical sense. Conversely, long-standing atheists
have lately explored the idea of an "atheist religiosity". Their rejection of
the Pope and of Biblical authority need no longer imply a wholesale rejection
of religion. Or "spirituality" as some insist on calling it, with studied
We learn that Buddhism and some lesser-known
Asian tradition also fall into this category of "religion without God". That's
why the Buddha is so popular in modern culture: he reputedly doesn't want you
to submit to some omnipotent authority in heaven. At the same time, the
millions of modern Westerners who do Buddhist things, like practicing
"mindfulness", don't become card-carrying Buddhists. They don't want to put all
their eggs into a single basket.
It is like in science. Everybody accepts that
many pioneers have contributed to the present state of our scientific
knowledge. Nobody swears by only one of them, nor denies the importance of all
the others. Everybody knows that Aristotle's work was, by all accounts,
path-breaking, yet his knowledge was tentative and often clumsy. Both these
facts, glorifying as well as belittling Aristotle, are equally true, and
uncontroversial. Of course his work was a tremendous contribution to
science, and of course it was very incomplete, in need of improvement by
others who came after him. Nobody faults him for the immaturity of his
theories, because everybody knows a single man couldn't have created the whole
edifice of science. Nobody says that Aristotle was the only son of the science
god, nor that he was the seal of the scientists never to be equalled.
A poet has said that after Isaac Newton, "all
was light", so decisive was his breakthrough in physics. Yet to those who would
dismiss the preceding generations of thinkers and researchers as merely caught
in darkness, Newton admonished that he could only see as far as he did because
he stood on the shoulders of giants, i.e. his predecessors in thought and
research. No scientist would ever say that he received the whole of scientific
knowledge in a flash, devoid of any prehistory nor in need of any additions or
In the experience of most moderns, the same is
true in religion. Earlier, a very monarchical view of religion prevailed: one
founder, a single leader with a single book, and the rest are devout and
obedient followers. Or if they aren't, they are outsiders to and enemies of the
religion. Today, we are evolving towards a more democratic view of religion. It
is open-ended on all sides.
It is open-ended in a geographical sense: valid
religious teachings have originated in many parts of the world. In the colonial
age, Christian travellers were puzzled to find noble people in China, in
Arabia, in Africa and other heathen countries: "How can they be so good and not
be Christian?" And they had qualms of conscience: "How sad that this Chinese
new friend of mine, this thoroughly good man, will have to go to hell because
he isn't baptized!" Today, ex-Christians and quite a few Christians are
confident that even God hasn't put all his eggs in a single basket:
non-Christians had been provided with their own Zarathustra, their own
Yajñavalkya, Confucius, Bodhidharma, or Shankara. Post-Christian people quote
from Jesus, Laozi, Kabir or Jalaluddin Rumi with equal respect.
It is open-ended towards the past. Every
teacher was a pupil once. Everyone has a navel as visible proof that he was
born from a mother and is indebted to earlier generations. The Buddha, who is
often venerated by Buddhists as totally unique and original, acknowledged that
he had merely walked the path that all the earlier Buddhas before him had
walked. After him, his tradition spawned equally important masters like
Bodhidharma, Huineng or Dogen. Evolutionary psychology shows that the germs of
religion go back very far. We now know that a sense of morality, of altruism
and fellow-feeling, which religious teachers usually claim as a special merit
of religion, is present already in the higher animal species. Apes already have
an (admittedly very embryonic) sense of religion. Some of you may have seen the
documentary in which a gorilla flares up in anger against a burst of lightning:
he is caught in the act of inventing a personal god behind the phenomenon of
thunder and lightning. Right there, he just thought up a thunder god, like
Jupiter or Indra or Thor. Later mankind has discarded this belief in personal
agents behind the natural phenomena, but it was a step on the way forward and
upward. While it is still controversial here and there to say we have descended
from apes, I dare say that we are, moreover, the pupils of the apes.
Modern religiosity is open-ended towards the
future. More teachers are bound to come, equal in rank with the ancient
teachers. Nobody is the last prophet. We've heard that after Mohammed, some
Muslims had a Baha'ullah or a Mirza Ghulam Ahmed. Without going into the merits
of these specific individuals, we can generally say that most people agree that
renewals are called for once in a while, and that even in religion, progress is
made once in a while. Nobody has a monopoly on the road to truth or salvation
in our post-Christian religiosity.
Brussels, 3 May 2009.
Read more!


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Doc Brown landed the DeLorean on October 21, 2015 at exactly 4.29pm! We would like to celebrate today since we only have one chance; at least that's how the story has gone so far. If you have never watched Back to the Future™ it's time to put this 1985 highest-grossing film on your to-do-list.
Continue reading "Let's go Back to the Future! Wait, that's today?"


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Announcing an Event - Game Night Party Recipes
So, in celebration of Sports, I have decided to host an Event which will gather simple yet delicious recipes that can help you plan a stress-free Game Night. I also know that a lot of events are out there in the blogosphere, and it can get tiring to keep up with all of them. So I am tweaking the rules a bit here to allow for previously-posted recipes. The purpose of this Event is to gather and share party recipe ideas so that it's beneficial to everyone; I don't want to stress my blogger friends and readers than they already are:) So go on, read the rules, and start sending in your Favourite Simple and Quick-to-Make Recipes!
This event is completed. Please take a look at the Game Night Party Recipes Roundup for some delicious, and easy finger-food recipes! Thanks everyone for participating!
If you liked this post, please subscribe to our feed so you'd never miss a recipe or article again!


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Forged Technology and styling applied to affordable cast wheels. The new 3pc cap comes with a removable logo and red anodized billet ring.
It is physically impossible for us to upload all wheels in all widths, lip sizes and bolt patterns. You should always base your ordering decision based on the description and details found in our item specifics and product details. Before mounting tires onto new wheels we strongly suggest that your installer test fit the wheels on the front and rear of your vehicle to ensure proper fitment.
Once the wheels have had tires mounted they are considered used and are not returnable. Those estimates are subject to change due to unforeseen weather or natural disaster events. If you have a different address you want used be sure to make this change at time of check-out. We will review your request and respond within 24 hours, Monday - Friday.
We suggest double boxing wheels to add additional protection. Injuries to the sidewall or tread of a tire that do not penetrate the carcass.Running a tire under-inflated or flat. Tire Shoulder wear that's commonly caused by under-inflation, hard cornering or alignment issues.
Uneven wear due to mechanical issues, which can include: feathered tread rim edges, cupping, diagonal wear, misalignment, worn or loose bearings. Failed or improper tire repair.
Ozone cracking to the tire(s). Bead damage or improper mounting of a tire or wheel. The above list includes a few of the general specific items that could cause issues.
For additional information on warranties, please refer to the website for the specific tire or wheel brand. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation of exclusion may not apply to you. In-store receipt or packing slip/invoice, date and an explanation of the complaint must accompany the merchandise. This item is in the category "eBay Motors\Parts & Accessories\Car & Truck Parts & Accessories\Wheels, Tires & Parts\Other Wheel & Tire Parts". The seller is "3910pplus" and is located in this country: US.
This item can be shipped to United States.


text: (for reference, here's the blog-post I wrote that inspired me to ask this list for advice. I'll explain everything in this email anyway though. http://haddock2009.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/how-to-navigate-your-code/ ) My challenge: getting to know an existing code-base quickly and easily, so that I can hack on it. Haddock and HsColour are already pretty helpful at this, but they could be more helpful. (haddock with --ignore-all-exports, i.e. cabal haddock --internal, especially) My dream situation: both haddock-pages and hscolour-pages would be super-hyperlinked and super-readable. For example, haddock would list all a module's definitions, not just its exports. In HsColoured source, every identifier would link to its definition or the haddockumentation of its definition. and so forth. It would be so much easier to generate and browse this in HTML, than to get an IDE working, and it would be so much more readable than a mere text-editor (even with syntax hilighting) and quicker clicking on hyperlinks than grepping for everything. Actually I don't have the resources to worry about designing any HsColour stuff right now (its current design is mainly just a lexeme highlighter). But, with your advices, I can design an improvement on Haddock's ignore-exports mode, which currently has a few shortcomings: 1. you can't tell which identifiers in a module are exported 2. it doesn't document a module's re-exports at all 3. it still obeys {-# OPTIONS_HADDOCK hide #-} et al, even when they're not appropriate for reading documentation of internals 4. 2+3 means that some things may be found nowhere in the documentation at all! Not quite satisfying for something invoked by `cabal haddock --internal`. (Here's a haddock-generated page you can look at so you can figure out the formatting-details I'll be describing: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/html/libraries/base/Data-List.html and its source code http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/html/libraries/base/src/Data-List.html ) The ideal haddockumentation-formatting for this purpose isn't quite obvious though. For example, sometimes you want to think about a module in terms of its abstract interface, but sometimes you want to figure out how it's implemented (without reverting completely to text based code browsing). Maybe a compromise of some sort would be good. so... Here's a proposal, for a new mode (`haddock --all-internal`?, to be invoked by `cabal haddock --internal` rather than --internal's current effect of ignore-all-exports) : Files with no explicit export list can be treated as-is anyway. For all files that have an explicit export list, generate the synopsis-of-exports near the top, as usual. But have the index link, generally, to where functions are originally defined (modulo being from a non-internally-documented separate package, where it should link to the appropriate place), and have the fuller documentation below be a compilation of the identifiers *defined* in this module. Actually that would need some revision because the sections and subsections -- *, -- **, etc. defined in the export-list in the .hs, actually are displayed 1. above the table of contents, linking to places in 2. the full list of definitions. Which might be defined in the module in a different order than they're listed in the export list. Why not add the sections into the synopsis? In this case, instead of adding them to the main doc section. But hmm... in ordinary non-internal documentation, would it be nice to *additionally* have the sections marked in the synopsis (in addition to in the Contents and in the main docs section)? Maybe this mode should also abstain from "hiding" any module, because that would cause missing docs. Etc. Questions? Comments? Opinions? Does anyone want this feature, and/or not think it's particularly useful? -Isaac


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Style hacks on building a comfortable work wardrobe, what to wear to ace a job interview and how to cut back on getting-ready time in the morning.
Easy style solutions on what to wear to the office
If there is one area that our fashion department gets the most enquiries, it is workwear, and more specifically, how to look equal parts professional and stylish.
We have the answers, along with outfit options to help you to nail a vital interview and a capsule office wardrobe that requires just minutes to put together.
My everyday clothes for the office tend to be a bit basic and boring. How can I make my look trendier without looking unprofessional?
Colour is one of the easiest ways to instantly inject a little life into your workwear wardrobe. Similarly, prints can transform an outfit and bring your look up to date without overly comprising on any office dress codes.
It makes sense to invest in classic neutral pieces that will stand the test of time and get the most wear – think crisp white shirts, tailored trousers and pin-sharp suiting. From there, don't be afraid to mix and match on-trend separates. For example, try tucking your shirt into a floral-print or block colour pleated skirt, or pair plain suit trousers with a block of colour, or an oversized knit and chunky gold jewellery.
What to wear to the office
Save the spindly stilettos for the weekend, as shoes should usually be closed toe. This season's hit soles are razor sharp ankle boots and low-slung loafers, both of which will fit the bill for the working week.
Leather boots by Zara, visit Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Deira, City Centre Mirdif, City Centre Bahrain, City Centre Muscat, City Centre Alexandria and City Centre Maadi
I waste so much time in the morning just trying to figure out what to wear. How can I speed things up without looking rushed or scruffy?
Selecting your outfit the night before is a great place to start. You could even plan a whole week's worth of looks to cut down the getting-ready process. It also helps to streamline your wardrobe and divide it into sections – allocate rails for your weekend outfits, party dresses, beach looks and workwear.
Once you have a capsule selection, it will make getting ready much quicker as you'll already know what pieces work with one another.
Navy trousers, H&M, visit Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Sharjah, City Centre Fujairah, City Centre Deira, City Centre Mirdif, City Centre Me'aisem, City Centre Bahrain, City Centre Muscat, City Centre Qurum, City Centre Alexandria, City Centre Maadi and City Centre Beirut
I was so nervous before a recent job interview that I threw on an uncomfortable outfit and then spent the entire time feeling self-conscious. What should I wear next time around?
You only get one chance to make a first impression, so depending on the field of the job (creative roles tend to be more relaxed), you want to come across as smart, responsible and confident. Aim for an outfit that is polished and most importantly, one that makes you feel comfortable – and by that, we mean forgoing a skin-tight shift dress that limits your steps.
Steer clear of anything too flashy or revealing – you can always add a little personality via a piece of statement jewellery or an accessory.
Printed dress, Mango, visit Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Mirdif and City Centre Muscat


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Ever since the coronavirus reached the U.S., officials and citizens alike have gauged the severity of the spread by tracking one measure in particular: How many new cases are confirmed through testing each day. However, it has been clear all along that this number is an understatement because of testing shortfalls.
Now a research team at Columbia University has built a mathematical model that gives a much more complete — and scary — picture of how much virus is circulating in our communities.
It estimates how many people are never counted because they never get tested. And it answers a second question that is arguably even more crucial — but that until now has not been reliably estimated: On any given day, what is the total number of people who are actively infectious? This includes those who may have been infected on previous days but are still shedding virus and capable of spreading disease.
The model's conclusion: On any given day, the actual number of active cases — people who are newly infected or still infectious — is likely 10 times that day's official number of reported cases.
The model has not been published or peer-reviewed yet, but lead researcher, Jeffrey Shaman, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University, shared the data exclusively with NPR. Here are more of the startling takeaways.
Missed cases remain a massive problem
To come up with their bottom line estimate, the researchers' first step was to estimate, for each day of the outbreak so far, how many people actually became infectious. Then they compared that with the number who got tested and counted as a confirmed case.
This discrepancy alone was huge: Shaman estimates that over the entirety of the pandemic, five times more people have been infected than were reported.
"The numbers amplify greatly," says Shaman. "When we look at confirmed cases, we're really only seeing the tip of the iceberg."
The rate of testing in the U.S. has improved over time. Shaman's model finds that at the very start of the pandemic, only 1 in 10 cases were being reported. By early May, it had risen to 1 in 6. By September, it was up to 1 in 5.
Shaman estimates that, on average over the past three months, the official tally has been counting only 1 in 4 infections. In other words, says Shaman, to get a rough sense of the actual number of new cases per day, you should multiply the daily reported number by four.
It gets worse — once you consider current active infections
Even estimating the true number of daily new infections fails to provide the full picture of how risky it may be to mingle with people in your community right now.
Shaman's estimated figures for how many people became infectious each day only tell you who is a new case. But people stay contagious for "three or four days on average," says Shaman.
So to fully appreciate the threat level on any given day, you would also want to count the people whose infection started earlier and who are still shedding the virus.
"There are a lot of people walking around with this virus who never know they have it," says Shaman. "Even the people who are ultimately swabbed and confirmed, they were contagious before they even had their symptoms."
So this is the next step to Shaman's model: He estimates that the number of people actively shedding virus on any given day is about 10 times the number of daily new reported cases.
How many people does this add up to? Well, on the worst day for reported new cases so far — Jan. 2 — 91 out of every 100,000 people in the U.S. tested positive. But Shaman estimates that on that day, 998 per 100,000 people were actually actively shedding the virus.
The peak was even worse in many jurisdictions. In Los Angeles County, says Shaman, at the height of the winter surge, 3% of the county's population was contagious, or roughly 3,000 per 100,000.
Transmission has slowed down considerably since then across the United States. But it is still well above the summer highs. And Shaman estimates that as of last Saturday, 1.25 million people nationwide were actively shedding virus.
"That's a very, very high level," says Shaman. "That still means there are a lot of people out there who are actively infected, who are passing it on, and who could expose people at risk."
Why this means we can't rush to open up
The findings lend urgency to the rush to vaccinate Americans, says Shaman. And it suggests that Americans will need to keep up a high degree of physical distancing and masking until many more people are vaccinated.
"If we let up now, given how much infection is out there, we're going to make it so that many, many more people are going to get the virus before they ever have the chance to get the vaccine," says Shaman.
Ashish Jha, a public health researcher and dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, says he considers these new models "really important" although he cannot assess the model's methodology since it's not public.
"What people really care about is not: 'How many people in my town or my state became a case yesterday?' " says Jha. "It's: 'When I'm out and about, how many people around me are infectious? How many people around me are potentially spreading the virus?' This is the first [work] I have seen that really tries to get at that."
One-third of the U.S. population has already been infected.
The sustained periods of high transmission in the U.S. also mean that by now, quite a large share of the U.S. population has been infected beyond what the tallies of reported cases would indicate. Nationwide, Shaman estimates that about 120 million people have now been infected, just over a third of the U.S. population.
The model also provides estimates for each state.
There's a fair amount of variation: In North Dakota and New York, for instance, Shaman estimates about half of the population has now been infected. "They may even be approaching herd immunity there," he says.
But Shaman also cautions that it's possible the immunity gained through infection — especially from mild or asymptomatic cases — might wane before enough people get vaccinated to tamp down outbreaks. It's also not known what degree of protection prior infection will confer against some of the new variants that were recently detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil — and which many scientists assume will become increasingly common in the U.S.
Also, in many states, the share of infected people is much lower. And the U.S. overall — with the estimated one-third infected — is nowhere near the 70 to 85% level that scientists estimate must be immune before the pandemic may begin to wind down here.
Shaman's conclusion: "I don't think we should psychologically be thinking about any sort of move into a post-pandemic phase and a real reopening until the summer."
"The important thing," he adds, "is not to get overly exuberant right now and think that we're done with this thing."
How this model compares with previous estimates
Shaman is not the first to attempt to estimate how many infections are missed by testing. This part of his analysis — though not the modeling of total active infections — echoes earlier research.
Shaman found that early in the pandemic testing was only capturing one out of 10 actual new infections — this is in line with estimates by researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These studies include several that extrapolated from blood sampling that looked for antibodies for the coronavirus — which is evidence of prior infection. They suggested that the numbers of actual infections were10 times higher than reported.
In another study by researchers with the CDC, a model that was similar but more rudimentary than the version Shaman's team used had found actual infections were likely eight times higher than reported during the first seven months of the pandemic.
So how did Shaman's team come up with their estimates? They started with two pieces of known information: First was the number of people who have tested positive each day since the start of the pandemic. The second was a set of anonymized cellphone location data — provided by the company SafeGraph — that told them, for each day, how much people were intermingling by moving outside of their homes, including, says Shaman, "to places of interest like grocery stores and restaurants."
The team then fed this data into a computer program that essentially tried to find the best possible answer to the variables whose value the team did not know — things like, how many cases were being missed each day? And how long were people remaining infectious?
The program effectively ran multiple simulations to see, for each day of the pandemic, which combination of answers allowed it to correctly predict how many reported cases were produced in the days afterward. In a nutshell, says Shaman, "it searches for the optimal solution that best fits the observable data."
NPR's Sydney Lupkin contributed to this report.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Carrier Commercial Refrigeration's innovative new counter ranges, which will be displayed at EuroShop 2017 in Düsseldorf, help to provide a more stimulating shopping experience. Combining food display and food preparation sections in one counter, the new ranges feature improved transparency with continuous, bracketless glass superstructures and enhanced merchandise presentation with semicircle or vertical display. Carrier, a world leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
The Danaos® Total Transparency™ counter features a full-glass display with a contemporary flat design that provides maximized transparency and product visibility to attract shoppers' attention.
With the Danaos® Invite™ semicircular counter, food retailers can offer an eye-catching product presentation within their line of straight counters. The swivel plate function gives an appealing view of food on display such as fish and other delicacies.
The tower solution for Carrier counters features a vertical product display that brings an appealing element into the counter line. LED lighting accentuates the merchandise display and helps maximize visibility with an eye-catching effect.
Marché Fresh™ counters for gastronomy combine food preparation and self-service food display into one counter. This provides a new shopping experience for items such as freshly baked pizza, fresh salads and sandwiches.
A variety of claddings with laminate and customization options, such as an integrated scale, help food retailers create a unique in-store atmosphere. In addition, store employees benefit from high quality and easy-to-clean materials as well as a variety of glass lid opening options for easier service and cleaning. The Danaos® Easy Opening™ counter, for example, features a new way of opening the glass superstructure from the front with a push-to-open mechanism, facilitating cleaning and loading.
"Our latest counter innovations place emphasis on enhanced product visibility, ergonomics and design," says Anna Rita Pittarello, director, product management counters, Carrier Commercial Refrigeration, Europe. "This allows food retailers to create a unique atmosphere for both shoppers and store employees to help increase sales in their counter area."
For more information about the new counter ranges, meet us at the EuroShop trade fair, hall 16, booth A04/B04, in Düsseldorf, Germany, or visit www.carrier-refrigeration.com.
About Carrier
Founded by the inventor of modern air conditioning, Carrier is a world leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions. Carrier experts provide sustainable solutions, integrating energy-efficient products, building controls and energy services for residential, commercial, retail, transport and food service customers. Carrier is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp., a leading provider to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. For more information, visit www.carrier.com or follow @SmartColdChain on Twitter.


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How Uncharted influenced PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886
Ready at Dawn reappears with its shot at the big time.
It wasn't any moment in particular that inspired PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order: 1886; it was the feeling Ready at Dawn co-founder Ru Weerasuriya had after completing Uncharted 2.
It was a feeling that, four years after Naughty Dog's incredible action game released for the PlayStation 3, Weerasuriya still struggles to pin down.
"It's that emotion they created in people," Weerasuriya, who 10 years ago co-founded the California developer of the PlayStation Portable God of War games after a stint at Blizzard working as an artist, tells me in a cool, calm hotel room set away from the chaotic whirlwind of Gamescom's Koelnmesse.
"I remember even before the first Uncharted was released, internally there were talks of it. We know the Naughty Dog guys really well. They're very close to where we are and very close to us in so many ways as a team.
"We realised what they were trying to create. The first one came out and they were setting up an IP. And then with the second game suddenly they created an emotion in people of that Hollywood blockbuster."
Uncharted 2 launched to critical and commercial acclaim, but more importantly it sent shockwaves throughout the game industry, changing forever the idea of what a cinematic video game could be and sparking a horde of developers to emulate its design. Nathan Drake did Indiana Jones better than Harrison Ford and Tomb Raider better than Angelina Jolie, and everybody loved it.
Uncharted 2 was the push Weerasuriya needed to settle upon Ready at Dawn's shot at the big time - a big budget triple-A home console exclusive of its own after years spent making high quality handheld games in the God of War series.
"We're not trying to emulate things they've done moment to moment," he says. "We're trying to give people that similar sense of entertainment. Entertainment comes in big Hollywood blockbusters and small indie movies - it's that. Games don't do that enough. Sometimes you get just stuck in one gameplay sequence or one thing you do all the way through. They gave us a multitude of things that created a whole. Once you played the game you felt, wow, that was a great ride. That's where the inspiration came from.
"It was one of the first times in my life when I felt, wow, you know what? That was an amazing ride. There was no single moment when I was like, that was just cool and that's the thing I love. The feeling at the end was, I just want more of this. This is what I want to do. This is what gaming is for me. That's what drove us to do this."
The Order: 1886 was announced at E3 in June with an eye-catching in-engine trailer that posed prospective PS4 owners more questions than answers. We know it's set in London in 1886, but it's a steampunk version based on an alternative history 40 years after the Industrial Revolution. According to the official blurb, "Man uses advanced technology to battle a powerful and ancient foe". You play as a member of an elite order of knights, joining a centuries-old war that will determine the course of history forever.
"The feeling at the end was, I just want more of this. This is what I want to do. This is what gaming is for me. That's what drove us to do this."
Ready at Dawn co-founder Ru Weerasuriya
And that was all she wrote, until later in June, when Weerasuriya penned a PlayStation blog post that, again, posed more questions than answers. We discovered that The Order: 1886 is a linear, story-based third-person action adventure with shooting mechanics and moment-to-moment gameplay that's "really not what you might expect". Beyond that, no detail. The Order is real, but it remains a mystery.
A recurring theme is this concept of The Order being "filmic". It's a somewhat abstract term that I at first took to mean cinematic, so, sort of like Uncharted, but Weerasuriya says it's to do with the way Ready at Dawn is shooting the game.
Yes, shooting the game.
"I know it's a word that's been thrown around quite a bit," Weerasuriya admits. "We concentrate on the important part of what makes something feel like a movie. It's not about making a game that just has a string of things that happen, like a movie. But, how can we inject some of the things you've seen in films?
"It's not about one event following another. It's really about how the craft of making a movie is different from the craft of making a game. We are different as industries, but we have so much commonality. One gap we haven't bridged yet is that we create engines, cameras and lighting. All those things are done for the purpose of a game, in a very game centric way. We decided, okay, let's make the gameplay, but let's take the techniques we've seen in movies.
"Like lenses. How do lenses work? We felt we could build gameplay and at the same time build lenses that were real. In the engine, the lenses we shoot with I actually emulated from real lenses I've used to shoot photography. The guy who directs the game with me has done the same. He does cinematography. I do photography in my free time.
"Graphically it's not a question of making things look better because it's a new generation. It's not in how many polygons or how much better the fidelity is. It's those little techniques like chromatic aberration, like lens distortion.
"How do we build lighting and atmosphere around lighting? On movie sets lights are not just lights. They have a light, but they create with smoke or whatever an atmosphere to give this glow to the light that is kinda fake, but in movies you excuse it because you expect it and it's really cool. You're like, wow, that shot has so much depth. It's got atmosphere. It's got thickness. It's got grittiness. That was the stuff we wanted to bring to games.
"That's filmic."
I expected Sony to show The Order gameplay at Gamescom, in light of the game's announcement at E3, but Ready at Dawn isn't ready for that. Instead, behind closed doors presentations focused on the tech powering the game, which has been in the works for a number of years now. But despite Weerasuriya's obvious admiration of Hollywood, The Order is, after all, a video game to be played with the DualShock 4 by gamers who have forked out hundreds of pounds for a next-generation console. Unfortunately Ready at Dawn and Sony aren't talking about the way The Order plays, yet, but I ask anyway: how do all these fancy "filmic" techniques affect gameplay?
"It doesn't affect gameplay, which is the cool part," Weerasuriya replies. "It gives you a sense of immersion you expect out of what you see normally through a TV."
There is no doubt that, like Naughty Dog with Uncharted, Ready at Dawn wants to tell you a story with The Order. Weerasuriya says it's a "story-driven" game, with the aforementioned moment-to-moment gameplay providing a unique twist. What does this mean, exactly?
"It's the way the characters play out, the animations we use, the motion capture sessions we have," Weerasuriya says, his answer as unclear as London drenched in fog. "We try to make sure every single tool we have at our disposal, and that includes gameplay as well, serves the purpose of the goal, which is to drive people through this story.
"Sometimes you have to sacrifice a lot of what you want to do to make sure the gameplay works. We're trying to do it in such a way that there's a better balance between what you've seen. So things are not so segmented, put it that way."
"It doesn't affect gameplay, which is the cool part. It gives you a sense of immersion you expect out of what you see normally through a TV."
As a born and bred Londoner my interest was piqued when I heard the news that The Order was set in my home town. I've always wondered why more games haven't been set in The Big Smoke, making use of its history, landmarks and grime. I maintain a slither of hope that Rockstar North will one day turn its attention south as it ponders a setting for a future entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, but, given Dan Houser's ongoing penchant for satirising the American Dream, I'm doubtful.
And so The Order will do for now.
"I love the city," Weerasuriya says with a smile. "I grew up in Switzerland and I used to travel all around the place. There are a few cities that remain in my head as places I'd love to live in. At every street corner you find something different. You walk around greater London... people talk about America being a melting pot. For me, London feels like that. There's more diversity there than there is anywhere I've seen, and I've lived in the States for 17 years. That's got to do with how the city evolved.
"London affected so much of the world's history in good and bad ways. Monarchy and trading and all of that stuff. I don't think we could make enough games to talk about everything that happened in that single city. And that's the reason why London is the first one. This is where we wanted to have our base, how to kick off the IP, because there is so much we could take out of it."
The Order's London is not the London we know of today. It's not the London we know of of 1886, either. Remember, the game follows an alternative 40 years after the Industrial Revolution, so expect plenty of steampunk gadgets and weapons, some of which are shown off in the debut trailer. But you'll be able to explore well known landmarks, including Big Ben, Westminster Palace and the Houses of Parliament. The London Underground will play a part, too.
"As far as areas of London, we haven't pinpointed every single thing," Weerasuriya says, before suggesting that East London hipsters will feel right at home. "Whitechapel one because Whitechapel has a very interesting history and there are interesting places there. As of now we haven't locked down the full scope of everything we want to do, but I can guarantee you this: it's not going to be all of London."
Bah. No Croydon, then.
"London is a city that has open spaces and small spaces, but it will remain a story-driven game," Weerasuriya says. "You will see places at the beginning of the game you'll see later, you'll see them evolve, you'll have a chance to interact with them and in some ways change the way they are from the beginning to the end.
"That's where we concentrated most of our effort - trying to make sure the story we're trying to tell is complimented by the way we build the city."
"London is a city that has open spaces and small spaces, but it will remain a story-driven game."
With The Order: 1886 Ready at Dawn is finally getting the chance to play with the PlayStation big boys. It's a new intellectual property and so, as per the rules of video game industry engagement, is one hell of a risk, but it's already set up to be a major franchise on PS4.
For amateur photographer Weerasuriya and co it's the dream game Ready at Dawn was founded to create, the reward for work done on three PSP games, a Wii game and a PS3 HD port, its origins forged in ideas scribbled down and saved for later.
"We started off as a small team of three people. 20 people by the time we finished the first game. 30 people by the time we finished the second one. We were slowly trying to get to the point where we learnt everything we needed to make this game."
Speaking to Weerasuriya, I realise he's as much a student of history as he is of film. In fact he's fascinated by it. "When I started writing it was all over the place," he says. "It was spanning a lot of centuries. And when we decided it was time for us to make the game, automatically there was this attraction to post-Industrial Revolution era Europe because of the changes in mankind during that time. There was so much happening in so little time. The world changed from an agricultural society to an industrial. It's amazing how fast that happened, if you really think about it."
But Weerasuriya's history lesson is as much about the real world as it is about the virtual. His passion for the "filmic", for history and for London is matched by his passion for the Uncharted series, created by his fellow Californians at Naughty Dog. He won't copy Nathan Drake's adventures - rather, he wants to rekindle that feeling, that "wow!", we all had upon completing them.
It's hard to explain, he says. When The Order eventually releases and the fog shrouding the game in mystery clears, fingers crossed, we'll feel it for ourselves.


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Last December I participated in a Christmas Memories Carnival where I mentioned some of the stores our family used to shop at. It's sad to see how many of them are gone. Here are the ones I mentioned.
Federals Department Store on Ecorse Rd. in Taylor (Gone out of business)
Montgomery Wards on Michigan Ave. at Schaeffer Rd. in east Dearborn and sometimes the one in Wonderland Mall at Plymouth Rd. and Middlebelt Rd. in Livonia (Wonderland was an outdoor mall opened in 1959) ("Monkey Wards" closed the retail stores in this area in 2001. I understand the company was resurrected as an online catalog store in 2004 and was just recently auctioned off to a new owner in August 2008. The Wards building in Dearborn is still standing but will be torn down next month to make room for a medical complex. All of Wonderland Mall was torn down in 2004 and a new strip mall with a Walmart and Target are there now.)
The Montgomery Wards store slated to be torn down Sept. 2008
Crowley's in Westborn Mall (Michigan Ave. at Outer Drive) in Dearborn (Crowley Milner and Company went out of business in 1999. Three of their stores were bought by Value City and those stores operate there now. The Crowley's store in Westborn Mall in Dearborn was torn down and replaced with a Kroger grocery store.)
J. C. Penney's on Fort Street in Lincoln Park (Still there!)
S & H Green Stamp Redemption Center was also located in the same area, Fort Street in Lincoln Park (Long gone!)
Hudson's Budget Store (my Aunt Renee worked there) on Michigan Ave. at Greenfield in east Dearborn (J.L. Hudsons was bought by The Dayton Company in 1969 and became the Dayton-Hudson Corporation. The Detroit flagship store closed in 1983 and the building was demolished in 1998. In 2000, Dayton Hudson became Target Corporation and all the previous Hudsons stores became Marshall Fields stores. In 2006 they were acquired by the May Company and became Macy's Department Stores. At some point along the way, the Budget Store in Dearborn closed.)
Muirheads on Michigan Ave. at Military in Dearborn (Gone out of business.)
Sears Roebuck on Southfield Rd. at Dix Rd. in Lincoln Park (Still there!)
People's Clothing Store (my Dad's favorite store to shop at) on Michigan Ave. at John Daly in Dearborn Heights and on Schaeffer Rd. north of Michigan Ave. in east Dearborn. (Gone out of business.)
In addition to those stores, we also shopped at:
E.J. Korvettes (on Telegraph Rd. in Redford) (Gone out of business, I think the building is a Burlington Coat Factory store now.)
Arlan's (behind the Sears store in Lincoln Park) (Gone out of business.)
Jacobson's (on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn) (Gone out of business, the building was torn down and the area is currently being redeveloped.)
My favorite places to shop were right in my own neighborhood. Westborn Mall was about 1.5 miles from my mom's house. It used to have the following stores: Crowleys (department store), Alexander Polen (meat market), Sally's (gift shop), Hughes and Hatcher (men's clothing), Winkelmann's (women's clothing), Bakers (shoes), Sanders (confectionery, and home of the best hot fudge cream puff you ever tasted!), Marianne's (women's junior clothing), S.S. Kresge ("dime store"), Cunninghams (pharmacy), Good Housekeeping (cleaners), and Wrigleys (grocery store). I think there may have been a bank in there too. Of these stores, none are still there. The Sanders Company went out of business but has been resurrected in other metro-Detroit areas. S.S. Kresge became Kmart Corporation but no longer operates the "five and dime" stores. Sally's gift shop was the last hold out. They were forced out of their location in 2007.
The last two hold-out stores in Westborn Mall, Sally's and Alexander Polen Meats. Photo from 2005.
The interior of Sally's Gifts from 1997.
The interior of Sally's Gifts from 1997.
One special store that I haven't mentioned yet holds a special place in my heart. There was a little store in my neighborhood, just a half-block down and a short block over from the house I grew up in. The store was officially, "Sunnyside Market", but everyone in the neighborhood called it, "the corner store". This was nothing more than a little "mom and pop" grocery store, and I mean little. It was no bigger than your average 7/11 convenience store but it offered so much more. It was cramped of course but you could get just about anything there you'd find in a full-sized grocery store. It had a fresh meat counter rather than prepackaged meats. It had a produce section, canned goods of all sorts, laundry detergents, baking needs, breads and baked goods, dairy, frozen food, a magazine rack, and best of all a candy section behind the front counter.
Mrs. Moceri was the sentinel who manned the cash register and dolled out the candy. Hard candies, Dum Dum suckers, Bazooka bubble gum, and the thick pretzel rods (which stood in a round container on the counter) were a penny a piece. The full-size candy bars were a dime. Chuckles, Good 'N Plenty, Slo-Poke suckers, Snaps, a pack of gum, and a roll of Lifesavers were a nickle each. Mrs. Moceri was friendly to children when there were adults within hearing distance but if you happened to wander in when the store was empty she'd give you a scowl, ask what you wanted, and tell you hurry up and decide. Then she'd stare intently at you until you did.
A guy by the name of Tommy worked the meat counter. I'm thinking Tommy was Mrs. Moceri's son but I don't know that for sure. Now Tommy was just the opposite of his mother. When adults were around he was all business. But if the store was empty he was quick to hand out a free Dum Dum sucker to any kids who happened along (when his mother wasn't looking of course!). He was always smiling and never hesitated to engage the neighborhood kids in a conversation. Everybody like Tommy. Only adults liked Mrs. Moceri.
Right out front of the corner store was a U.S. Mail box, the old red and blue kind. Back in those days people didn't leave outgoing mail in their home mailboxes like they do nowadays. When my mom needed to send something via the U.S.P.S. she'd always send me over to the mailbox at the corner store and give me a penny to buy something while I was there. I almost always bought a pretzel rod (you couldn't buy anything chocolate for a penny or you know that's what I would have gotten!) but sometimes I got a Dum Dum sucker (watermelon was my favorite flavor :-).
The two photos in the scrap page above aren't very good photos of the corner store but they're the only ones I have. I wasn't even trying to photograph the store in the picture on the right. I was actually photographing the hot Corvette in the foreground but the back of the store is clearly visible in the picture.
I don't know just when the corner store went out of business. The above photos were taken for a high school photography class assignment in 1972. I'm thinking the store was around until the 1980s but I'm not sure about that. I should look it up in a city directory the next time I'm out that way. What I wouldn't give to see Mrs. Moceri's scowl just one more time. Of course I'm an adult now so I probably wouldn't get to see it!
Scrapbook page created with the kit "Happy Kitchen" by Susan Darter on the Raspberry Road blog.


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Nonprofit leaders are seeing how enterprise-level tech can amplify social impact.
See how creative financing can make world-class tech affordable.
Non-profit organizations around the world often have a love-hate relationship with technology. Business leaders can see the value of enterprise-level software for effectively driving their organization forward, but tight budgets can make it exceptionally difficult to justify a large investment in technology. Whether it's websites, social media, email, driving search results or business process optimization, there are any number of ways that not-for-profit entities can leverage technology to drive growth — which in turn results in an enhanced social impact. However, funding these technology initiatives requires some creative financial structuring.
Hot Tech for Nonprofits
Creating the nonprofit of the future involves strengthening internal management capabilities, with the majority of nonprofits finding success when they're able to get outside their walls and effectively engage the public with their mission. Not-for-profit organizations define success differently; instead of sales growth, the metric to shoot for could be the number of individuals or families supported or gallons of fresh water provided to a specific locale. High-impact nonprofits have learned that smart technology is critical to their success, and are becoming creative at determining how best to approach these in-depth projects.
From inspiring evangelists by creating a high-performance social media network to organizing thousands of conversations with networking software, nonprofits are finding ways to leverage technology to create community and grow from a grassroots level. Sometimes this technology is very cost-effective, but customized computing requirements often mean that not-for-profits have all the challenges and complexities of an enterprise-sized organization with only a small fraction of the budget.
Levels of Complexity
Today's technology integrations require a high level of complexity and personalization, and managers in the nonprofit sector may struggle to balance support of an aging infrastructure with pushing the envelope towards the most impactful technology options available in the marketplace. Many technology leaders have found that by outsourcing ongoing, low-level technology tasks their teams are able to focus more of their energy on solving business challenges creatively and in a way that will help the organization to continue to grow their impact on the world.
As nonprofits scale up their digital operations, it's likely that services that have been managed internally — such as website hosting, Exchange servers or email hosting and server upgrades — may be falling by the wayside and causing operational challenges that reduce overall organizational efficiency. When this happens, the impact may be much greater on a lean-running not-for-profit than in a corporation, where there's likely more redundancy.
Financial Challenges
While many nonprofits start with a shoestring budget, technology needs and budgets grow as the organization scales. However, technology investments can often be a difficult sale — especially when an organization is actively looking for ways to grow services to the community. Nonprofit technology leaders need to be able to make the pitch that the tech investment will support and further the overall mission of the organization. One of the best ways to do this is by quantifying the opportunity cost of not making the technology investment: fewer potential donors reached, reduced organizational effectiveness, or operational inefficiencies that can be resolved through smart tech investments.
Budgeting within the nonprofit sector can be quite challenging, too. Once the decision has been made to go in a specific direction, then the dance for funding begins. Is there a small budget surplus that allows for a one-time purchase, or is the operational budget strong enough to support ongoing services and maintenance fees? When IT leaders work closely with vendor partners to define which investments provide the greatest ongoing value to the organization, it's often possible to avoid nasty financial surprises. It's critical to the success of nonprofits to form long-term partnerships in the technology sector with organizations that can provide best-practices and be a true partner in the drive to take advantage of the latest tech advances.
Role of Managed Services
While working with a managed service provider is not a new concept, nonprofits have not historically moved in this direction. However, as long-term budgets tighten and leaders clamor for new tools to drive social change, managed service providers are becoming even more attractive to not-for-profit organizations. The rapid pace of technology change can stretch even the most well-staffed organization, and nonprofits have a long history of under-investing in infrastructure costs. Having a collaboration partner allows nonprofit managers the ability to essentially rent technology, providing for quicker upgrades and the ability to be more nimble in their business moves.
Managed service providers are able to quickly scale to meet business demands, with real-time monitoring and security that can provide immediate alerts and a higher level of cybersecurity support. As businesses shift towards the flexibility of allowing employees to BYOD, it is even more important that end-to-end security solutions are available. Finally, the fixed price for technology management allows nonprofits to budget more effectively on an ongoing basis while still having the benefit of regularly-scheduled upgrades for security and functionality that are critical to their success. Quick access to a team of professionals in the event of a physical or cyber emergency, as well as the easy availability of backups, means nonprofits are able to focus on their core competencies instead of on day-to-day technical operations.
Advances in technology offer nonprofits the ability to further their mission; while the managed services sector provides an implementation and ongoing maintenance model that truly works with their flow of business. From cybersecurity to data storage and hosting, finding the ideal mix of services allows your not-for-profit technology leadership to focus on future advances instead of dealing with daily infrastructure challenges that take time and focus away from your core business needs. Contact Compunet InfoTech today at (604) 986-8170 or via email to email@example.com. Our Vancouver professionals will work with you to define the ideal balance that will provide your organization with the technology you need to be successful while creating a budget that will work for business leaders.


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If you are not familiar with the Channel Master DVR + its an Over the Air Digital Video Recorder you connect to a digital antennae to view and record television channels.
It does this all without the need of a paid subscription service. We recently got our hands on one and tested it out. We found that not only was it easy to setup but is also easy to use. The DVR itself is the smallest DVR we have ever tested.
It is very thin and compact but at the same time feels very sturdy due to the metal casing.


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Zeitlin & Zeitlin, P.C. was established in 1993 in Phoenix, Arizona, by Dale Zeitlin and Dawn Zeitlin, together with another attorney, James M. Balogh, who associates with the firm on an of counsel basis.
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The firm's primary practice is in representing property owners whose property is being taken by a governmental entity ostensibly for public purposes, including inverse condemnation cases – takings where no case is or will be filed without action by the property owner. Click here to read more about Eminent Domain Lawyer services.
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Zeitlin & Zeitlin has recently represented lenders and owners who were damaged by reliance in their decisions to lend money or purchase property on improper or inaccurate appraisals that inflated property values
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When a property is foreclosed through trustee's sale, Zeitlin & Zeitlin represents parties in deficiency litigation where the value of the property must be determined to establish the amount of a deficiency.
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Where land use regulation amounts to a taking of private property rights, the firm represents the property owner against the regulating entity in protecting the rights of the owner.
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Zeitlin & Zeitlin represents clients who have claims based upon real estate issues or disputes Zoning and property value litigation Where zoning control is misused by governmental entities and damages the value of a property, Zeitlin & Zeitlin represents the property owner in protecting its rights.
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Zeitlin & Zeitlin represents landowners who have land the government wishes to take for a public building project – such as highway expansion or the construction of new government buildings – the landowner must be provided a fair amount of compensation for their property.


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Angel lore, angel stories, angel advice, and angel wisdom: whether you're seeking guidance, healing, or inspiration from these heavenly messengers, you'll find it in this splendidly illustrated Angel Bible. It's filled with enlightening knowledge: you'll learn about angelic calling cards, messages, and visions, and discover how to sense an angel's presence, create an angel altar, keep an angel gratitude book, and meditate and dream with the angels. Find out about angels of many lands and their hierarchies, and explore the connections between angels and astrology, colors, crystals, essential oils, kabbalah, and the chakras.
A quick reference guides you directly to those angels who can offer immediate assistance and teaches you how to call on them for help in any situation.
- Publisher : Sterling (Sept. 28 2006)
- Paperback : 400 pages


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Unconventional Love Sonnet #3
Outside, the animals are pairing off
in the ardor of spring -- sparrows build
nests of small twigs and even the squirrels
give in to the brief passion of procreation.
Such an ancient ritual this mating dance,
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toward polarity -- not simply to reproduce,
but to know the flame of pairing.
Yet, we seek no progeny, only the depth
of two bodies in communion, flesh
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All that remains is beyond our skin,
beyond our voices, a sacred mystery
binding two souls in union.


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Movies Six
1111 N.E. D Street,
Grants Pass,
1 person favorited this theater
Showing 6 comments
btw, here's a video I made about it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoiQaGlk_sw
View link here's a pic I took today at the theater and was saddened by the state of it. This is how these geniuses treat it. I went by earlier with my mom and was using her camera phone to at least get a pic of it in case they were gone when I could go by with my camera. I was standing there taking some pics and I said to the guy in the Ducks hat "it's a shame they closed it" and he said grumbling "movies suck anyways" so I yelled "THAT'S YOU'RE OPINION" and walked away. really made me angry.
Sucks that theatres built as recently as the 1990s are closing.
I just read in the newspaper today that this theater is closing this Sunday (Jan. 2nd, 2011). A real shame because I have many fond memories of this place. We have the Southgate (that was built in 1997) But this is one of the theaters I used to go to with my wife when we were in High School. I could tell that something wasn't right in the last 5+ years, because they updated the Southgate (a 4 screen) up to an 8 screen, and they put stadium seating in. But they didn't do any remodeling to the Six. Oh well, bye bye good ol' theater.
This theatre was built in 1990. It replaced an old single screen ACT III theatre at the same location.


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You might want to skip this post (about abortion). Need help? In New Zealand, you can call Lifeline on 0800 543 354 or Youthline on 0800 37 66 33.
Click here to watch the documentary. You can make the video full-screen to avoid the advert.
The two sides of the abortion debate in America literally face one another in this documentary from filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.
In Fort Pierce, Florida, a women's heath care center is located at the corner of 12th and Delaware. On the same corner, across the street, is another women's heath care center.
However, the two centers are not in the same business; one provides abortions along with a variety of other health services, while the other primarily offers counseling to women considering abortion, urging them to keep their babies.
In 12th and Delaware, Ewing and Grady offer a look inside both offices, as pro-life counselors give women a mixture of concern and disinformation about terminating their pregnancies and the pro-choice medical staff struggles to work under the frequent threat of violence against them.
The film also examines the handful of protesters who stand outside the abortion clinic, confronting both patients and staff as they enter and exit. (via)
In Florida there are two street corners, both 12th & Delaware. An abortion clinic, run by a husband and wife, and an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy care center, run by Father Tom sit across the street from each other.
"We still get women coming in who think they're going there [to the abortion clinic]."
Women aren't sure which one they're calling or visiting. The pregnancy care center does nothing to clarify that they don't actually offer abortions. What they do offer is "counseling" to actively try to persuade women from choosing abortion, graphic photographs, free ultrasounds (with 'HI DADDY!' typed in the corner of the print out), models of fetuses, DVDs of anti-abortion propaganda playing in the waiting room, flip books of the abortion process, graphic DVDs of the procedure, and brochures stating that abortion causes breast cancer.
The abortion clinic claims the pregnancy care center gives incorrect information to women–among spreading myths about abortion and medical disinformation, they say the center tells women they are earlier in their pregnancy than they actually are, so if they think they have a few weeks to make a decision and then decide to have an abortion they either won't be able to get an one or will have to travel to another state to get one.
Choice quotes from one of the crisis pregnancy center counselors
"She's abortion-minded."
"She had an abortion in December. She might do it again."
[to ultrasound technician (likely the only person in the building with any sort of medical training)] "Maybe we can get a heartbeat."
"Yus, yus, yus, two ["saved"] in one day."
The efforts the pregnancy counselors go to push their agenda have no bounds
A woman comes in. She already has two kids. She says she wants what is best for herself and the children she already has. Her position is entirely understandable.
The counselor goes to her office and sends an email out to a prayer mailing list: "Please pray for Victoria, she is in our counseling room at this very moment, and her only option is abortion…"
She buys McDonald's for the woman, thinking that if the woman leaves before having an ultrasound that she might "lose her". They eat together.
She tells the woman that her verbally abusive partner might change if she has this baby.
"I'm gonna step outside and make a phone call."
"[on phone] Man this bitch is getting on my fucking nerve."
The crew follow-up with a 15-year-old who was convinced she should continue with her pregnancy by the care center. She tells the crew that she tried to end the pregnancy herself. She hopes that everything will turn out alright.
The protestors and the doctors
The same counselor from above makes her way across the street to talk to the protesters. They're friends. She shares news from an anti-abortion website.
She comes out a second time after the police are called and defends the protesters' use of graphic signs.
The doctors who perform abortions are picked up by the clinic owner, and, with a sheet covering their heads, are taken into the clinic's closed garage to protect their identities.
"I've discovered, thanks through God that I know where the owner of the abortion clinic meets the abortionists."
One of the protesters from outside the abortion clinic leads the documentary crew to a Wal-Mart parking lot. He's found where the doctors and clinic owner meet and swap cars. He, as well as others try to find out names and addresses of the abortion doctors. They want to out the doctors, using methods like displaying their photo on billboards; and visiting their homes, churches, and workplaces, to deter them from performing abortions.
The abortion clinic
"I just wanna make sure that this is definitely what you need to do, not want to do, nobody ever wants to do this… It's your decision only."
In strong contrast with the pregnancy care center, the abortion clinic is truly about choice.
"Yeah… they got a replacement and that doctor was killed too."
The main fear is that they will lose their doctors. Their abortionists are in their 50s and 60s. "Where is the next doctor coming from" if a doctor retires or is outed?
Watch an interview with the co-directors of the documentary, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.
Here's a new Tumblr sharing New Zealand women's stories of abortion.
Click here to watch the documentary. You can make the video full-screen to avoid the advert.


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SnapMail is the cross-platform private messaging and file-transfer utility for your office. Instantly send messages, files, reminders, and alerts on your network.
Unlike instant messaging, SnapMail uses peer-to-peer technology and does not rely on Internet servers to send mail within your local network. This makes SnapMail a very fast in-house messaging system that complements your Internet email. All of your messaging can be conducted without fear of accidentally sending mail out of your company.
In addition, there is no junk mail and no non-company e-mailing. You can be sure that everything in SnapMail is company business. SnapMail also connects remote offices securely across the Internet, creating a "virtual LAN."
SnapMail is plug and play software. It installs in a minute and is immediately usable. SnapMail configures itself and finds other users on the network without system administration.
SnapMail features include:
SnapMail is supported on any computer connected to a TCP/IP network that is running Windows Vista, XP, or 2000 or Macintosh OS 10.3 or above.


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sane-test(5) | SANE Scanner Access Now Easy | sane-test(5) |
sane-test - SANE backend for testing frontends
The sane-test library implements a SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) backend that allows testing the SANE installation and SANE frontends. It provides access to a (nearly) unlimited number of virtual devices. There is no support for real scanners or cameras. However, the backend simulates scanning and setting options.
The idea is not only to find bugs in frontends but also to show all capabilities of SANE. Therefore sane-test implements functions and options that are not (or seldom) found in other backends.
The backend is commented out in /etc/sane.d/dll.conf, so either the comment character must be removed or the backend must be called explicitly. E.g. scanimage -d test or xscanimage test.
Option mode selects the scan mode (Gray or Color).
Option depth determines the number of bits per sample (1. 8, or 16). Keep in mind, that this value refers to the sample, not the pixel. So depth=16 results in 48 bits per pixel in color mode. The most usual combinations are mode=Gray, depth=1 for lineart, mode=Gray, depth=8 for gray and mode=Color, depth=8 for color mode. The combination of color and 1-bit mode is quite obscure (8 colors) but allowed in the SANE standard. However, the meaning of bits is not defined. Currently 1 = high intensity and 0 = low intensity is used.
Setting option hand-scanner results in the test-backend behaving like a hand-scanner. Hand-scanners do not know the image height a priori. Instead, they return a height of -1. Setting this option allows one to test whether a frontend can handle this correctly. This option also enables a fixed width of 11 cm.
Setting option three-pass simulates a three-pass scanner. Older color scanners needed to scan the image once per color (red/green/blue) to get the full image. Therefore, in this mode three single frames are transmitted in color mode.
Option three-pass-order provides support for changing the order of the three frames (see option three-pass above). A frontend should support all orders.
Option resolution sets the resolution of the image in dots per inch.
Option source can be used to simulate an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). After 10 scans, the ADF will be "empty".
Option test-picture allows one to set the image that's returned to the frontend. While "Solid white" and "Solid black" are quite obvious, the other options need some more explanation. Color patterns are used to determine if all modes and their colors are represented correctly by the frontend. The grid should look like the same in every mode and resolution. A table of all the test pictures can be found at: http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/test-backend/test-pictures.html.
If option invert-endianness is set, the upper and lower bytes of image data in 16 bit modes are exchanged. This option can be used to test the 16 bit modes of frontends, e.g. if the frontend uses the correct endianness.
If option read-limit is set, the maximum amount of data transferred with each call to sane_read() is limited.
Option read-limit-size sets the limit for option read-limit. A low limit slows down scanning. It can be used to detect errors in frontend that occur because of wrong assumptions on the size of the buffer or timing problems.
Option read-delay enables delaying data to the frontend.
Option read-delay-duration selects the number of microseconds the backends waits after each transfer of a buffer. This option is useful to find timing-related bugs, especially if used over the network.
If option read-return-value is different from "Default", the selected status will be returned by every call to sane_read(). This is useful to test the frontend's handling of the SANE statuses.
If option ppl-loss is different from 0, it determines the number of pixels that are "lost" at the end of each line. That means, lines are padded with unused data.
Option fuzzy-parameters selects that fuzzy (inexact) parameters are returned as long as the scan hasn't been started. This option can be used to test if the frontend uses the parameters it got before the start of the scan (which it shouldn't).
Option non-blocking determines if non-blocking IO for sane_read() should be used if supported by the frontend.
If option select-fd is set, the backend offers a select filedescriptor for detecting if sane_read() will return data.
If option enable-test-options is set, a fairly big list of options for testing the various SANE option types is enabled.
Option print-options can be used to print a list of all options to standard error.
Option tl-x determines the top-left x position of the scan area.
Option tl-y determines the top-left y position of the scan area.
Option br-x determines the bottom-right x position of the scan area.
Option br-y determines the bottom-right y position of the scan area.
There are 6 bool test options in total. Each option is numbered. (3/6) means: this is option 3 of 6. The numbering scheme is intended for easier detection of options not displayed by the frontend (because of missing support or bugs).
Option bool-soft-select-soft-detect (1/6) is a bool test option that has soft select and soft detect (and advanced) capabilities. That's just a normal bool option.
Option bool-hard-select-soft-detect (2/6) is a bool test option that has hard select and soft detect (and advanced) capabilities. That means the option can't be set by the frontend but by the user (e.g. by pressing a button at the device).
Option bool-hard-select (3/6) is a bool test option that has hard select (and advanced) capabilities. That means the option can't be set by the frontend but by the user (e.g. by pressing a button at the device) and can't be read by the frontend.
Option bool-soft-detect (4/6) is a bool test option that has soft detect (and advanced) capabilities. That means the option is read-only.
Option bool-soft-select-soft-detect-emulated (5/6) is a Bool test option that has soft select, soft detect, and emulated (and advanced) capabilities.
Option bool-soft-select-soft-detect-auto (6/6) is a Bool test option that has soft select, soft detect, and automatic (and advanced) capabilities. This option can be automatically set by the backend.
There are 7 int test options in total.
Option int (1/7) is an int test option with no unit and no constraint set.
Option int-constraint-range (2/7) is an int test option with unit pixel and constraint range set. Minimum is 4, maximum 192, and quant is 2.
Option int-constraint-word-list (3/7) is an int test option with unit bits and constraint word list set.
Option int-constraint-array (4/7) is an int test option with unit mm and using an array without constraints.
Option int-constraint-array-constraint-range (5/7) is an int test option with unit mm and using an array with a range constraint. Minimum is 4, maximum 192, and quant is 2.
Option int-constraint-array-constraint-word-list (6/7) is an int test option with unit percent and using an array a word list constraint.
Option int-inexact (7/7) is an int test option that increments the requested value and returns flag SANE_INFO_INEXACT.
There are 3 fixed test options in total.
Option fixed (1/3) is a fixed test option with no unit and no constraint set.
Option fixed-constraint-range (2/3) is a fixed test option with unit microsecond and constraint range set. Minimum is -42.17, maximum 32767.9999, and quant is 2.0.
Option fixed-constraint-word-list (3/3) is a Fixed test option with no unit and constraint word list set.
There are 3 string test options in total.
Option string (1/3) is a string test option without constraint.
Option string-constraint-string-list (2/3) is a string test option with string list constraint.
Option string-constraint-long-string-list (3/3) is a string test option with string list constraint. Contains some more entries...
Option button (1/1) is a Button test option. Prints some text...
- /etc/sane.d/test.conf
- The backend configuration file (see also description of SANE_CONFIG_DIR below). The initial values of most of the basic SANE options can be configured in this file. A template containing all the default values is provided together with this backend. One of the more interesting values may be number_of_devices. It can be used to check the frontend's ability to show a long list of devices. The config values concerning resolution and geometry can be useful to test the handling of big file sizes.
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sane/libsane-test.a
- The static library implementing this backend.
- /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sane/libsane-test.so
- The shared library implementing this backend (present on systems that support dynamic loading).
- This environment variable specifies the list of directories that may contain the configuration file. On *NIX systems, the directories are separated by a colon (`:'), under OS/2, they are separated by a semi-colon (`;'). If this variable is not set, the configuration file is searched in two default directories: first, the current working directory (".") and then in /etc/sane.d. If the value of the environment variable ends with the directory separator character, then the default directories are searched after the explicitly specified directories. For example, setting SANE_CONFIG_DIR to "/tmp/config:" would result in directories tmp/config, ., and /etc/sane.d being searched (in this order).
- If the library was compiled with debug support enabled, this environment
variable controls the debug level for this backend. Higher debug levels
increase the verbosity of the output.
Example: export SANE_DEBUG_TEST=4
sane(7), scanimage(1), xscanimage(1)
Henning Meier-Geinitz <email@example.com>
- config file values aren't tested for correctness
14 Jul 2008 |


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We Care Performing Arts Summer Camp
Each summer at our neighborhood park, Farwell, community members observed children hanging out at the park without parent supervision and an increase drug activity. So in 2010 I decided to create enriching park programming for the children who frequented the park daily throughout the summer and the We Care Performing Arts Program was born. In creating this program it was important to meet neighborhood youth where they are. Based my observations of and interactions with neighborhood youth, I realized that they knew little about their own culture's history and lacked the self-confidence needed to succeed in life. To address this situation I created a free performing arts program at Farwell Park. I chose performing arts programming for two reasons. First the performing arts are an effective tool to highlight and showcase the roles, achievements, and contributions African Americans have made to American and world culture. Second, participation in the performing arts increases a child's self confidence as well as his/her ability to self regulate, cooperate with others, express him/herself both honestly and peacefully, and be disciplined.
Immediately I found support from neighbors who live directly around the park and the Homewood Development Council. That first summer We Care Performing Arts ran solely on community support. Each summer since 2010 the program has grown both in scope and partnerships. Over the years partnering organizations have included the Pohlad Foundation, Black Story Tellers Alliance, Hired, Homewood Studios, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, Minneapolis Public Schools, Minnesota Dance Alliance, North Commons Park, NRRC, Perpich Center for the Arts, Step Up, and UROC. This summer We Care Performing Arts is again excited to provide youth with a free performing arts program at Farwell Park culminating in a student performance at National Night Out.


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Have you noticed that here at Darn Good Yarn we've become a little nuts about our sari ribbon. And oh the varieties!
Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon Tassel
This one I love! I was futzing around thinking about making a nice tassel. So, I did! I also beaded up a little strand of lime green seed beads and tied them around for extra embellishment. It was the perfect finishing touch. Use these to tie back curtains or tie around a pillow or you can just hang them on over guest hand towels-- the possibilities are really limitless. Just don't be afraid of color! Make a smaller one and use it as a pull on a light or a fan. Or you can make a mini one with a long tail and turn it into a bookmark. What a great gift!
For the tassel pictured you'll need:
1 100g skein of Darn Good Yarn's Around the World Sari Ribbon. You can also substitute this skein with the variety of other sari ribbons Darn Good Yarn carries. They come in solids, mixed prints, eye-lashed, and silk varieties.
CD Case or heavy cardboard that has the same dimensions (this determines the length of the fringe of the tassel so you can make it as long or short as you'd like)
Fishing Line
Seed Beads
1) Wrap the yarn around the CD case (or heavy duty cardboard). Do this until it bulks up to your desired "poofiness". For the tassel pictured, it was about 25 times.
2) Cut the remaining ribbon
3) Take a 7 inch piece of ribbon and thread it through one side of the loops. You need this because you can use this ribbon to attach it to whatever you had in mind. Make it longer if you say had curtains that were very bulky. If you are having a tough time getting the ribbon through the loops, go ahead and go to step 4 and then carefully go back to this step.
4) Slide the recycled sari ribbon off the CD case.
5) Cut another piece of ribbon about 6 inches in length. This will tie the tassel together. So, tie it close to the top of the loops you just passed that ribbon from step 3. Make a neat and tight square knot for this part. this is especially important if you're not going to add additional embellishments. You can tuck the ends of this ribbon underneath this band to make them lie flat.
6) It should really look like a tassel now! But you must cut and trim the bottom loops. Make sure to get them all and arrange the recycled sari ribbon so there is equal poofiness.
7) Go ahead an embellish as you see fit. Get funky! Try beads, buttons or leave it as is.


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BELIZE WATERLILIES The Belizean waterlily is a hardy, native plant that floats its round foliage and produces a fragrant, multi-petaled, white flower just above the waters surface. Each leaf of the waterlily lasts about 6 weeks. Flower showiness is legendary and each flower lasts several days, but flowers close in late afternoon and at night. Fragrant waterlily grows in standing water about 18 inches deep and spreads by means of rhizomes. It can be prevented from spreading by planting it in a container without drainage holes and submerging the container into the water garden. This helps prevent the plant from invading the entire water garden. Although waterlilies require full sun for best flowering, this one will produce some flowers with only 4 hours of direct sun. HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN WATERLILIES - For your backyard pond or river/canal edge 1. Plant waterlilies in a container filled with garden soil or potting mix. 2. A shallow and wide container is better than a tall, narrow container. 3. Mix garden soil with one-fifth well-decomposed cow manure. 4. Incorporate fertilizer - about one-quarter cup 10-10-10 per gallon of soil or media to help stimulate growth. 4. Place a small plastic bag filled with sand at the bottom to keep it from floating in the pond - before filling the container. 5. Plant the rhizome at the edge of the container so it can grow horizontally across the top. PLANTING POINTERS 1. Put a 1- or 2-inch layer of sand or gravel over the top - after the rhizome is planted in the pot to keep soil in the container. 2. Place the container in about 6 inches of water until growth begins. 3. Set the container, so that it is no more than 18 inches below the surface of the water. 4. If the water is too deep, place a brick or concrete block under the container. 5. Do not construct containers from treated lumber, since growth could be severely inhibited. FERTILIZATION & UPKEEP Once a month, apply an application of a slow-releasing fertilizer. Various companies make these tablets. Placed the tablet, several inches below the sand or gravel layer at the top of the container. Follow the manufacturers directions to determine appropriate number of tablets. |
Check out, my my current blog series on Flowers in Belize. COMING SOON!
I have a new blog series coming soon. Trees of Belize. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR THIS SERIES WITH YOUR COMPANY'S ADVERTISEMENT, ...... Please let me know. Categories
May 2012


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Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh #2 StickHandle 1/1
Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh #2) StickHandle 1/1 game-used hockey card.
President's Choice Trading Cards has re-launched StickHandle game-used memorabilia cards with an exciting new design. StickHandle cards incorporate the player's name taken directly from the shaft of their game-used stick. Each StickHandle card is numbered 1/1 and will make a great addition to your player, team, or game-used collection.