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JOB PURPOSE Create and implement a flexible program and classroom environment favorable to student learning and personal growth. Develops lesson plans consistent with established guidelines. Establish effective rapport with students, staff members, and parents. Motivate students to develop skills, attitudes, and knowledge to provide an effective educational foundation, in accordance with each student's ability.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Instruction/Education Responsibilities
- Plans and implements a program of instruction that adheres to the company's philosophy, goals and objectives as outlined in the adopted courses of study.
- Makes purposeful and appropriate lesson plans which provide for effective teaching strategies and maximizes time on task.
- Presents subject matter to students to maximize learning opportunity and provides real-world, application-based examples and learning opportunities.
- Review's student records in order to develop a foundation of understanding regarding each student's abilities and needs. Maintain accurate and complete student records.
- Strives to maximize the educational achievement of each student.
- Utilizes a variety/range of student learning modalities in each lesson and uses differentiated instruction within those lessons.
- Utilizes diagnostic assessment of student learning on a frequent basis.
- Maintains accurate and completes student records.
- Assesses student strengths and weaknesses on a frequent basis, provides appropriate activities to address student needs and generates progress reports as required.
- Refers students with suspected learning problems to appropriate support personnel.
- Assigns lessons, corrects student work product and reviews oral presentations.
- Coordinates class field trips (as required).
- Prepares students for state required achievement assessments.
- Keeps current in subject matter knowledge and learning theory and is willing to share this knowledge for the continual improvement of the school's curriculum.
- Assists in the on-going curriculum revision process, including the revision of written courses of study.
- Assists in the selection of books, equipment, and other instructional materials.
- Becomes acquainted with supplemental services beneficial to students as an extension of regular classroom activities.
- Creates a classroom environment that is conducive to learning and appropriate to the maturity and interests of students.
- Maintains positive rapport with students; demonstrates patience and appropriate nurturing to assist in the growth of the child.
- Ensures classroom is clean, safe and includes student generated work on display as appropriate.
- Implements all relevant policies governing student conduct.
- Develops reasonable rules of classroom/playground behavior in accordance with CSUSA policy and guidelines and maintains order in the classroom in a fair and consistent manner.
Instructional Planning
- Develops lesson plans consistent with established guidelines and goals.
- Plans individual and / group learning activities designed to meet instructional objective and students' needs.
- Prepares for classes assigned and shows evidence of preparation upon request of supervisory personnel.
- Participates with other staff members in curriculum planning during designated meetings.
- Incorporates into planning all diagnostic information as required in the student's Individual Education Plan (IEP).
- Takes all necessary and reasonable precautions to protect supplies, equipment, materials, and facilities needed to implement effectively the planned instructional program.
- Strives to establish cooperative relations and makes reasonable effort to communicate with parents/guardians when appropriate.
- Communicates clearly, consistently, and positively with parents via all appropriate mediums.
- Cooperates with members of the administration, other staff and with CSUSA.
- Maintains confidentiality regarding student records.
- Participates in parent communication activities.
- Participates in extracurricular activities to ensure a positive school culture and provide support for students and staff (as required).
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required personnel so classified.
- Demonstrates enthusiasm and commitment toward the position and the mission of the company; support the company's values in the strategic areas of academic excellence, operational performance, superior culture, and financial health and growth, as outlined in the Employee Handbook.
- Possesses strong time management & organizational skills and the ability to prioritize effectively.
- Has the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with teachers, students, parents, the community, and administrative staff. Is sensitive to sensitive to corporate needs, employee goodwill, and the public image, as unique situations present themselves.
- Possesses excellent interpersonal skills and displays such between all stakeholders: being courteous, professional, and helpful.
- Possesses excellent communication skills: Oral (including presentations), Written, Interpersonal (active listening), Negotiating and Influencing.
- Has the ability to be at work consistently, to be on time, to follow instructions, to respond to management direction and to solicit feedback to improve performance.
- Demonstrates proficient experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Student Information System (SIS) and email communications.
- Looks for ways to improve and promote quality and demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
- Strives to implement best practices and positive character education consistently.
- Bachelor's degree (BA) from an accredited college or university or equivalent.
- Possession of valid teaching certification (as appropriate).
- Minimum of one (1) to three (3) years successful teaching experience (may include Student Teaching Internship experience).
- Equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Command of grades/subject specific content and theoretical knowledge of learning theory, including motivation, reinforcement, evaluation and feedback techniques.
- Understanding of and commitment to company values.
- Successful results of criminal and employment background check.
- Effective instructional delivery techniques and excellent communication skills.
- Adherence to the requirements of the Code of Ethics for the Education Profession.
- Such alternatives to the above requirements as CSUSA may find appropriate and acceptable.
While performing the responsibilities of this position, the work environment characteristics listed below are representative of the environment the employee will encounter:
- Usual office working conditions.
- No physical exertion required.
- Travel within or outside of state.
- Light work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force as frequently as needed to move objects.
Salary and benefits shall be paid consistent with CSUSA salary and benefit policy. Length of the work year and hours of employment shall be those established by Charter Schools USA.
Job is exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Performance will be evaluated in accordance with Charter Schools USA's policy.
The Charter Schools USA Human Resources Department retains the sole right and discretion to make changes to this job description. Any employee making changes unauthorized by Human Resources Department will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Apply on company website


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You eat, you die.
To think such family exist.
Squashing finally makes it's way to the mainstream through the medium of the daytime chatshow. It's only a matter of time before weird Japanese tentacle fetishes and other horrors are being beamed to TVs nationwide.
She's really let herself go.
On being black .Now show some happy faces..
Camera feature doesn't work. Insert another quarter
wow, check out the socks
I knew someone was watching me
It's a pretty impressive party trick but probably not something that you'd bother putting on your CV. It's kinda hard to believe that there are more than one people competing for the head stair climbing record.
Its a rising trend in japan.
almost thought that was his nose for a min........ hahahahaha
No wonder all the chicks dig batman
Makes your dog look slutty.
Fighting the invisible man is not easy.
judging by where & how the hands are pointing, the guy at the back looking up with his mouth open is gonna get nailed
When you get old you just don�t have to care anymore.
There is something wrong with society these days. Women have literally become too big for their boots, I think it is time to go back a step and put them right back in their place (the kitchen). Who's with me?
Ronald McDonald is now obese. And Asian.
The last time these guys knocked something out that quickly was when they attacked the buffet at the Bellagio.
Nice breasts, lady!
Yes you are.
It's amazing just how much fun you can have with just a window, landscape, and a few pens. From such simple things, a creative mind can conjure up and offer up a batch of greatness that truly has to be witnessed.
It is weird how addiction lead their life.
I didn't think JCPenney sold planes. But the price was right so I took a chance. Thank God I saved my receipt.
This drum solo was obviously planned because of the spotlight being on him, but his reaction to the limelight probably wasn't planned. Credit to him though, he carries on with the show afterwards!
Its a must buy, Its 3 in 1. Nothing to lose
Oh look its the new Israeli prime minister.... Bling Closby....
A weird gallery of those kinds of pics that simply can't fail but make you utterly baffled. It's pretty safe to say that there are some truly strange people out there doing some crazy things. You probably live near some of them?
She seems focus on it
Captain Mellonhead is the super hero Stan Lee refuses to talk about.
kinda reminds you of skittles ,go taste the rainbow
Looks like fire department has no funds for upgrade
It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't diarrhea
No wonder flat iron got same shape of the pizza. It's for heating the tip of the pizza.
If it was that easy there wouldn't be sins.
Customer should be thankful for not waiting too long. But be careful he might end up breaking yours
"Dad, careful. It's falling off"
Hippies, hipsters, festival freaks, whoever they are they just keep on coming out of the opening in the ground. it's enough to boggle the mind. Just how many people are there in this hole?
Guess its fun for twins to wear it.

subset: commoncrawl


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Long Cased Axial Fan Single Phase 4 Pole 12deg 350mm
- Motors protected to IP55
- Motor insulation Class 'F'
- Maximum ambient temp. 54˚C
- Most models speed controllable via transformer or inverter
- IP55 terminal box
- Adjustable factory set polypropylene impeller
- Suitable for relative humidity levels up to 95% R.H
- Manufactured to BS EN ISO 9001
- Performance tested to BS 848 parts 1, 2 and ISO 5801
- 2 Year Guarantee
Product Overview
The Long Case Axial range of fans incorporates manually adjustable pitch impellers which provide a comprehensive range of duties offering high performance and pressure characteristics.
Available in thirteen sizes ranging from 250 to 1250mm diameter and performances from 0.24m3/s to 36m3/s with pressure development up to 1500Pa. The casing is constructed from rolled steel plate complete with flanges and protected with a tough, galvanised finish.
The Long Case Axial range has a range of accessories available which include: Axial Ancillary Pack, Attenuators, Mounting Feet, Wire Inlet Guard, Coupling Flange & Speed Controllers.
Sound Levels
All measurements of the sound that the fans generate have been taken strictly in accordance with BS 848 part 2, test method 1. Published sound power level spectra figures are dBW with a reference of 10-12 Watts (1 Pico watt).
The motors are specially selected for optimum performance and efficiency. Ball bearings are greased for life and allow the fan to be installed at any angle. Suitable for continuous operation in relative humidity up to 95%. Motors are protected to IP55 against dust and water jets complying with BS EN 60529. They have ribbed aluminium body castings for efficient cooling. Motor insulation is Class 'F' (from -35°C to +54°C). Star/delta starting is recommended for motor output above 7.5kW.
Axial Impellers
Polypropylene impeller blades are clamped in a split cast aluminium hub, with a keywayed mild steel insert enabling positive locking of the impeller assembly to the motor shaft, this also allows manual adjustment of the pitch angle giving a wide selection of performance details.
Terminal Box
To IP55, protected against dust and water jets from any angle, allowing outside applications.
Declaration of Conformity
All models are supplied with an EC Declaration of Conformity as defined by the EC Council Directive on Machinery 98/37/EC. This declares that all the models, on the basis of their design and construction in the form brought onto the market by Vent-Axia, are in accordance with the Machinery Directive.
Single phase 220-240V 50 Hz permanent capacitor. Three phase 380-415V 50Hz. Protection of the motor must be provided by an overload current sensing device (eg. D.O.L Starter or Star/Delta starter where appropriate) or the guarantee will be invalidated. All models are available with 4 pole motors for 250 up to 1250mm diameter with additional 2 pole motors available from 250 up to 630mm diameter.
All units are manufactured to order with 7 working days delivery (UK mainland)
Product Downloads
Installation Instructions
Catalogue Pages
Attenuator and Pod for Cased Axial Fan 355mm Diameter
- Fan Diameter: 355mm
- Supplied with pod for additional attenuation


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Today's show offers three features:
Arctic Dispatch: (start time: 1:02) Co-host Susan Moran returns from Tromso, Norway, with a dispatch from the Arctic Frontiers conference, which addressed the human health and environmental impacts of a rapidly thawing Arctic. Lars Otto Reierson, executive secretary of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program within the Arctic Council, discusses the transport and impacts of contaminants on the Arctic food web and the indigenous people who depend on it. And Michael Tipton, a physiologist at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., speaks about the risks of and physiological responses to extreme cold environments. Read Susan's article in Popular Science for more about the thawing Arctic.
Atmospheric methane spikes: (start time: 9:39) Dr. Ed Dlugokencky, an atmospheric chemist with NOAA's Earth Systems Research Laboratory, speaks with co-host Jim Pullen about a paper he co-authored in Science about a recent spike in atmospheric concentrations of methane, which is 30 times more effective than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. The graph to the right shows globally averaged methane (blue) and its de-seasonalized trend (red) determined from NOAA's global cooperative air sampling network. To learn more about KGNU's coverage of fracking issues, visit our fracking blog!
Bonobo Conservation Success: (start time: 16:11) Author Deni Bechard speaks with Susan Moran about his new book, Empty Hands, Open Arms: The Race to Save Bonobos in the Congo and Make Conservation Go Viral. The book highlights the success that a nonprofit is having in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in sparing the animals from extinction while economically benefiting local communities.
Hosts: Susan Moran, Jim Pullen
Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jim Pullen
Executive Producer: Jim Pullen
Listen to the show:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:33 — 26.9MB)
Subscribe: RSS


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Trump Anti Islam agenda matches with every fascist agenda in every Nation!
The Nations seem to extinct as war and terror boost each other!
Palash Biswas
Now it has to be defined whether the US war against terror means war against Islam or war against black untouchables worldwide!
However,irrespective of the answer,Terror strikes not to end as most potential candidate to become the next US President Donald Trump made clear this weekend that he has not rolled back his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, despite top allies insisting that he had.
No one expected that the US Presidential campaign would end in an infinite hate theme triggering all apps of violence in unprecedented civil war scenario.
Because no one expected the Billionaire to upset every apple cart with the venom he produces right from his racist heart and mind full of deepest hatred,Apartheid to prove that America Can NOT contrary to the famous declaration of the firs Black President of United States of America with a Muslim middle name,Barrack Hussein Obama.
Barack Obama said 'America is not as divided as some have suggested' in the wake of Dallas police shootings.But Donald Trump not only divides America but he is invoking all the forces of apartheid and his charity begins at home as America stands divided as never before.
It has to be answered whether Trump targets the Muslim origin of the outgoing Democratic President Obama to ensure republican victory in accordance to Republican Campaign strategy!
It might be.
But his anti Islam agenda suits most every other agenda of blatant and brute racist Apartheid in state nations which seem to extinct if this war and terror continue boosting each other.Trump`s America first kills the myth of dreams coming true.
Mind you,as the phrase Daily Independent used for Obama,As the first black US President, Mr Obama is unique among occupants of the Oval Office in his capacity and willingness to address racial tensions. Yet he has also presided over a period in which those tensions appear to be as fraught as at any time since the Civil Rights era.
Rejecting the idea of a return to the 1960s, however, Mr Obama said he would reconvene an existing, White House-led task force of activists, civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials to tackle the troubled relationship between police and the black community.
On the other hand, Washington Post reports:
In accepting the Republican nomination on Thursday night, Trump said the country "must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time it's proven that vetting mechanisms have been put in place." Trump made no mention of Muslims in the speech, leading many to conclude that Trump had formally changed his position — just as a number of his top allies, including his running mate, said he had.
During an interview this weekend with NBC's "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd asked Trump whether his comment should be interpreted as a "slight rollback."
"I don't think so. I actually don't think it's a rollback. In fact, you could say it's an expansion," Trump said. "I'm looking now at territory. People were so upset when I used the word 'Muslim': 'Oh, you can't use the word "Muslim."' Remember this. And I'm okay with that, because I'm talking territory instead of Muslim."
Trump first proposed banning nearly all Muslims overseas from the country in early December, soon after a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif. Trump's original statement — which calls for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" — is still on his campaign website. This position continues to be one of Trump's most controversial and a key reason that some fellow Republicans do not want to help him with his campaign.
Mind you,Barack Obama's religious background is more diverse than that of most prominent politicians, but it may prove to be representative of future generations of Americans who grow up in an increasingly diverse America. His mother was raised by non-practicing Christians; his father was raised a Muslim but was an atheist by the time he had married Obama's mother.
It is well known that Obama's step-father was also Muslim, but of an eclectic kind who could make room for animist and Hindu beliefs. Neither Obama nor his mother were ever atheists or identified with atheism in any way, but she raised him in a relatively secular household where he learned about religion and different beliefs people had about God.
Allegations that Barack Obama secretly practices Islam, or that he is the antichrist of Christian eschatology, have been suggested since he campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and have proliferated since his election as President of the U.S. in 2008. As with conspiracy theories surrounding his citizenship status, these false claims are promoted by various fringe theorists and political opponentswith American bloggers and conservative talk radio hosts particularly promoting the theories.
Despite the fact that these assertions are false, belief of these claims in the public sphere has endured and, in some cases, even expanded during Obama's Presidency according to the Pew Research Center, with 17% of Americans (including one third of conservative Republicans) believing him to be a Muslim in a 2012 poll.
In his book The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama writes:
I was not raised in a religious household. For my mother, organized religion too often dressed up closed-mindedness in the garb of piety, cruelty and oppression in the cloak of righteousness. However, in her mind, a working knowledge of the world's great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology.
On Easter or Christmas Day my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites.In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well.


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When summer hits, and the heat starts to set in, it is important to remember that your pet will need extra care during this time. With the rising temperatures and humidity, you can easily become dehydrated and overheat. This can result in falling unconscious at best, and at its worst, vital organs can fail, and it can even be fatal. This all applies to your pets as well!
We tend to think of animals as tougher than humans, but in truth, dogs and cats begin to experience heatstroke at the same internal body temperature (104° F) as humans do. Severe heatstroke begins at 105° to 106° F internally. With smaller pets it is more difficult to gauge temperature, but there is always one practice to keep in mind. Constantly keep your eye on the heat index. Meteorologists use the heat index to determine what the true temperature is once humidity is applied; it's this balance of heat and humidity that are dangerous to the health of you and your pet.
When the heat index reaches 90° F, you need to start taking heatstroke precautions to protect your pets. They can't ask you to turn on the air conditioning or request extra water. They also can't verbalize when they're starting to feel ill. Your pets depend on you to monitor the weather conditions and give them what they need to survive.
Pet Heatstroke Prevention
Animals work differently than humans. Specifically, how their bodies function versus ours. For instance, cats and dogs only sweat through the pads on their feet and other animals, such as rabbits, disperse heat through their ears. What keeps you cool may not keep your pets cool, and vice versa. If you're ever hesitant about how to care for your pet, please ask us!
Tips & Tricks to Help Your Pet Avoid Heatstroke:
- Air conditioning! Because of the way animals sweat, a fan by itself will not be enough to help them release body heat.
- Try to always be prepared for severe weather that could disable the power in your home. Especially during the summer months! This will increase the risk of heat stroke, as you will have a harder time providing cool air and water.
- If you have a basement, consider leaving your pet in their when you aren't home. Since it's underground, it will be naturally cooler.
- Provide plenty of shade and ventilation. This is extremely important when you're indoors AND outdoors. Also check to make sure there is nothing that could keep your pet from reaching the shade like their leash getting stuck on something or furniture blocking the available shade.
- Keep your pets indoors as much as possible during the extreme weather seasons. This is important on very hot days, especially during the hottest part of the day. Always avoid keeping your pet on surfaces that will retain heat, such as asphalt and sand.
- NEVER leave your pet in the car unattended! No matter how quick your errand or how shady your parking spot is, cracking the windows is not enough to ensure the safety of your pet. Pets left in vehicles for too long is a leading cause of hyperthermia-related pet deaths.
- Try to limit muzzling larger pets as much as possible. Panting is part of their cooling process! How they pant will help you determine how well or how poorly they're reacting to the temperature.
- Make sure your pet has easy access to water. If you're going out, consider using a pet fountain that will prevent spillage and provide a constant flow of water. Ice cubes are also great for cooling down their water and helps keep their internal temperature down. This is especially important for older or impaired animals. They typically drink less water than other pets so keeping their water cool and accessible is critical.
- Experiment with ice packs or similar DIY options (e.g., frozen water bottles) to help your pet cool itself. Your can put these in your pet's cages for them to play with or lay against.
- Physically apply water to your pets to keep them cool. This could be something small, such as misting them, or letting them have a dip in the pool or setting up sprinklers in the yard for them to run through.
- Give your pets cold treats such as homemade peanut-butter popsicles or chilled wet food. Note, avoid ice cubes as they can injure teeth.
- High risk animals should be taken extra care of! Such as pets who suffer from heart or lung disease, obesity, or thicker coats.
Heatstroke Symptoms
The early stages of overheating can be treated at home. However, you should always check in with your veterinarian to make sure your pet isn't suffering from anything internal or other serious side effects. If you catch these symptoms quickly, hopefully, you can prevent heatstroke from progressing. Once the condition of your pet has moved to heatstroke, you will need to take immediate action and bring your pet to your veterinarian or emergency clinic as quickly as possible.
Signs of Pet Heatstroke
If your dog experiences heatstroke, you might notice some or many of these symptoms:
- Excessive panting and drooling
- Red gums or tongue
- Increased heart rate
- Dry nose
- Being unusually quiet
- Not wanting to or not being able to get up
- Vomiting
If heatstroke progresses and your dog's body temperature continues to rise, they might experience the following symptoms:
- Bloody mouth or stool
- Muscle tremors
- Seizures
- Incoordination or a staggering walk
- Weakness
- Collapse
- Coma
- Death
All types of animals can experience heatstroke. Even lizards and birds! Stiffness, discolored skin or tongue, rigidity, lethargy, and loss of appetite are a few signs that these pets may be experiencing heatstroke. Be sure to ask us about your specific pet so you will know what to watch out for and be prepared.
Side Effects
Even after normalizing your pet's body temperature, there is still room for potential injury or lingering side effects. Regardless of their better condition, always bring your pets into your veterinarian for assessment in order to diagnose and prevent more serious internal problems.
Types of internal issues can include:
- Kidney failure
- Cardiac or pulmonary distress
- Blood clot dysfunction or disorder
- Systemic inflammatory response system
- Liver disease, disorder, or cell breakdown
- Depression or other mental changes
- Hydrocephalus (abnormal accumulation of fluid around the brain)
- If left untreated, heatstroke can result in death
The first thing you should do if your pet is suffering from heatstroke is to contact your veterinarian immediately. Next, you will need to handle your pet with extreme care. For instance, making them too cold, or too cold too quickly, can trigger problems like an increased risk of shock or hypothermia. The latter will cause the blood vessels to tighten, decreasing blood flow and preventing your pet from being able to cool down.
For small pets, wet their paws and ears with cool water. Next, wet the fur as it will mimic the process of sweating. It is especially important to slowly cool small pets because there is a heightened risk of life-threatening complications. Once their temperature has started to normalize, gently wrap them in a wet towel to keep them cool while you transport them to the closest emergency veterinary hospital.
For larger pets, the process is similar. Saturate their fur with cool water or use wet cloths to place at the back of the head and armpits to bring their body temperature down to a safe level of about 103° F. Let them drink water or lick ice if they are thirsty. However, don't give them cold water or try to force them to drink. A good trick is to try a children's re-hydration drink or add a little salt to their water. This will help restore electrolytes and minerals lost from overheating. Once they are at a normal temperature, dry your pet thoroughly to prevent hypothermia and bring them to an emergency veterinarian immediately.
If your pet is unconscious, bathe them in cool water. This is a delicate process, and you must make sure to not to let water get into their nose or mouth as this can result in aspirated pneumonia. When transporting them to your nearest emergency veterinary hospital, keep some type of cold pack against their belly. Frozen water bottles or bags of frozen vegetables can be used an ice pack.
Once your pet is in the hands of our veterinary team, we offer an array of services to meet the specific needs of your pet. Including:
- Temperature regulation
- Respiratory aid
- Blood tests
- Clot tests
- Full body exam
- Tests for damage to internal organs
- Treatments based on our diagnosis
In many cases, pets can fully recover complication-free. For pets who don't 100% recover, they may temporarily or permanently need a specific diet based on their complications. Remember, pets that have experienced heatstroke once have a greater risk of experiencing it again.
If your pet's behavior has not returned to normal after a few days, it is important to bring your pet back to your veterinarian for further assessment. If you are local to the Portland, OR area, we would love to have you at Vista Pet Hospital. You can request an appointment by giving us a call at (503) 297-2218.


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I knew this would happen. Indeed, I told you that it would happen. My youngest son, Lindell, went into kindergarten in September as a baby, and he came out in June a little boy.
Despite knowing everything I do about little boys and the first day of kindergarten, I didn't fully understand the ramifications of Lindell's inevitable growth and separation from me until the summer actually started. And now I feel sad.
Here's how a summer day went for us last year:
My older boys spent most of their day swimming in the lake, playing catch in the front yard or walking to and from the baseball field. They went to summer camp for a week and stayed all day. They played with their friends outside and left again after dinner. They knew who was in their next year's class before I did.
Lindell, on the other hand, was still very much a baby, or a babyish toddler. He preferred sitting in my lap to swimming at the lake. He was too young to go to the baseball field alone, and he had no interest in summer camp. He waited with bated breath for me to tell him who his next year's teacher would be and who might be in his class.
All of that has changed this summer.
Last week, all three boys went off to Windover, a hidden-in-the-woods art camp in Newburgh, Maine, that has no buildings except for old barns with slanting floors. It is total kid paradise. As young as 6, campers can help make movies, do photography, make pottery, paint, swim and run through the open fields. Lindell has never before been able to go to Windover with Ford and Owen. He's only heard the stories and looked longingly at the art projects they brought home. This summer, he was finally old enough, and although I had my doubts about whether or not he'd actually leave me for a full day, he didn't even look back when he climbed the steps of the bus and disappeared into it with his brothers.
So I had five full days all to myself. I could sleep in. I could shop or write or eat cookies for lunch. I had zero responsibilities. And what did I do? I sat around missing all of my boys, but in particular, Lindell.
I wandered from room to room thinking of how he usually would be on my heels asking me to play or telling me about some fantastic (and really unsafe) idea he had. I did errands and missed him sitting in the shopping cart or running up and down the aisles. I folded his clothes and nearly cried over every tiny sock.
Silly, huh? But I couldn't shake this nagging sense of loneliness. And it is odd because Lindell just spent a whole year in kindergarten. Hadn't I had time to adjust to all three boys being gone? Why did I not feel this way during the school year?
Then I realized the difference: all-day school was something for which Lindell had no choice. He went to kindergarten every day because he had to. Last week, Lindell went to all-day summer camp because he wanted to. That's a whole different ballgame.
I began to understand what this year's summer will be like: Lindell will join his brothers for swimming and leave me on the shore. He will play catch with them outside and not follow me around the house. He will go with his brothers to the baseball field and back. And in a very short time, I will have no babies left at all.
Late last week, I was thinking about these things when the camp bus rolled and let off the boys. Ford, 12, walked out calmly with his hands stuffed in his pockets and no expression on his face. Owen, 10, walked beside him, but he smiled at me as they came closer. But it was Lindell who broke into a sprint, his backpack bouncing against his back, to come give me a hug.
"I missed you," he said into my shirt.
I ruffled his hair and thought, maybe I still have a little window of time left with my baby.


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Economic Priorities
This week President Bush focused on social security and overhauling the tax code during a two-day economic conference at the White House. Unless changes are made, the Social Security Trust Fund that funds social security could run out of money by the year 2042. Although 2042 seems so far away, 38 years isn't that far into the future. I personally am not counting on social security to be there for me and my spouse when I retire. I will have other sources of income that will support me and my spouse after I retire. It's supposed to be a social safety net, but it is a shaky one for those of us whose retirement is far down into the future. The fact that the president is even broaching such a hot-button issue as social security is gutsy. The system does need to be changed so that it remains solvent after the year 2042. Nevertheless, at present I believe other domestic economic concerns are more pressing and need to receive higher priority than social security or tax code reform. They should be prioritized as follows:
- Reduce the federal budget deficit. President Bush has made a pledge to reduce the current account deficit by 50%. He needs to make this his top economic priority. Over-reliance on foreign investors to buy U.S. debt is dangerous.
- Bring down the trade deficit. The president needs to leverage America's strengths and fight battles for the country in forums such as the WTO to reduce the nation's trade deficit. This is not a problem he created; he inherited it from his father and President Clinton. He needs to come up with a solid plan for narrowing the trade gap beyond currency devaluation.
- Focus on energy self-sufficiency. It is in the interest of the U.S. to decrease its dependence on foreign oil. The president needs to evaluate all options ranging from conservation to fuel cells to domestic drilling to minimize energy consumption and maximize domestic production. Purchasing foreign oil contributes to both #1 and #2 above.
- Promote job creation. The president needs to focus on creating good domestic jobs. Foreign outsourcing and productivity have put pressure on job creation, leading to fewer good, long-lasting domestic jobs. I add "long-lasting" because job creation must focus on creating domestic jobs that can withstand an economic downturn. Job creation during the second Clinton administration was impressive, but these jobs did not survive the dot.com bust. Those types of jobs are not what the economy needs. Jobs that can be easily outsourced such as traditional manufacturing jobs are not what the economy needs. Good jobs with staying power need to be created in fields the U.S. dominate, including technology, services, and biotechnology.
These economic issues should receive highest priority during the second Bush administration. Focusing on social security and tax code reform are fine as long as these basic priorities are first addressed.


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Believe it or not, the time for pumpkin pies, turkey legs, cranberry sauce, and gratitude is fast approaching! It's time to put away the Halloween ghoul and goblin decorations and break out the autumn garlands and cornucopias.
October brought some highs and some lows. We lost our new little kitty to some unknown ailment, which crushed me to the point of canceling attendance at an Oktoberfest celebration here in Richmond. But we did manage to attend the State Fair of Virginia earlier this month, spend a windy weekend at Kilmarnock hunting for arrowheads and pretty shells, and experience the Central Virginia Celtic Festival and Highland Games this past weekend!
I feel like a broken record by saying that this next month will be fairly quiet in terms of bigger travel plans. We tend to live frugally, hoarding our money and vacation days for big trips abroad, and we'll be doing more low-key living through November (minus the anticipated bite into my wallet that buying Christmas gifts will bring!). I plan to kick off November with a trip out to Charlottesville tomorrow to watch my sister's team play a rivalry rugby game against the University of Virginia and then walk the beautiful Grounds of the University reminiscing on my time there as an undergrad. Later in the month, a dear friend will be returning from her 20-month Asia trip before she moves on to California. We'll undoubtedly hit up a few breweries and catch up on all her travels! (I'm anticipating a lot of travel envy after those conversations!) By then we'll be nearly to Thanksgiving, which means we'll be "headin' to Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie!" (Perry Como, anyone?) We spend every other Thanksgiving in the heart of Amish country, and I'm excited about our first out-of-state trip since late August. Beyond visiting with family, I'm wondering if we'll have time to sneak a visit to the Hershey Factory while we're there!
Before you know it, we'll be in the swing of the Christmas season. And in just a few weeks, we should be able to announce our 2015 international travel plans! I can't wait!
How was your October? Any big plans for November yet?
Linking up with A Brit and a Southerner for #WeekendWanderlust!


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KeralaRealEstate.com Sell / Buy Properties, Land, Buildings, Flats, Houses, Villas, Commercial Properties in Kerala
Kasargod is the northernmost district of kerala.Kasargod is known as the land Yekshgana and Theyyams
There are different views on the derivation of the name "Kasargod".One view is that it is the combination of two Sanskrit words "kaasaara"(which means lake or pond) and " kroda "(which means a place where treasure is kept). Another view is that it is the place where Kaasaraka trees (Strychnos nux vomica or Kaanjiram or Kaaraskara) are in abundance. Bothe views are relevant as there are large number of rivers, lakes and ponds in the coastal belt of the district besides thick flora consisting of innumerable varieties of trees, shribs etc. particularly plentitude of Kaasaraka trees.
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Win a Wonderful Weekend for Two
Tourism is travel for recreation, leisure, religious, family or business purposes, usually for a limited duration. Tourism is commonly associated with international travel, but may also refer to travel to another place within the same country. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".
Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Today, tourism is a major source of income for many countries, and affects the economy of both the source and host countries, in some cases being of vital importance.


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- Rare-Prints Shop
- >
- Audubon Birds
- >
- Audubon Rare Prints Edition Birds
- >
- Rare Prints Edition Giclee' - Canada Goose Plate 201 (Limited Edition of 500)
Rare Prints Edition Giclee' - Canada Goose Plate 201 (Limited Edition of 500)
per item
Rare Prints Editions is a division of Rare-Prints.com that creates high quality Giclee' reproductions of Audubon's work. They are exact facsimiles of Audubon's original hand colored engravings showcasing his amazing talent and the timeless beauty of his life's work. The Giclee' method provides the very best reproductions of original works available today. Using ultra high resolution images from top of the line digital cameras the Giclee' printer sprays ink on watercolor paper at up to 4,000 dpi. The result is a reproduction that has all the color, detail and texture qualities of each original. These are truly beautiful pieces of art. You will even notice differences in paper tone that match the tone of the each individual print's original paper. Each image is printed with archival ink on 330 gram Somerset Velvet Enhanced paper with beautiful deckled edges and is a full-size facsimile of an actual original. The bird images measure approximately 26" x 40". Rare Prints Editions Reproductions represent the best value on the market for high quality reproductions of Audubon's works.


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EXA support status for various drivers. To help out, take a driver that isn't started, or improve one of the patches below, or port the code from KAA or XAA. Documentation is in xorg git under xserver/xorg/hw/xfree86/doc/devel/exa-driver.txt and found in doxygen from in the exa.h header.
If you want to test, you will need at least
Option "AccelMethod" "exa"
in your card's Device
section in xorg.conf
. Do not try Load "exa"
because it will fail. You may also want to enable Composite, by saying
Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "enable" EndSection
- i128 (Solid and Copy only so far, incompatible with DGA, only tested on T2R4 cards)
- radeon (r1xx-r7xx with Render accel)
- sis (sis/xgi; Solid and Copy only)
- trident cyberblade and xp4 (Solid and Copy only)
- via (Solid, Copy, Render)
- savage (Solid, Copy, UTS)
- mach64 (Solid, Copy, Render. DFS pending)
- mga (Solid, Copy, UTS. Render pending)
- siliconmotion (Solid, Copy. UTS pending)
- i810/intel (Solid, Copy, Render)
- nouveau (Solid, Copy, UTS/DFS on nv0x, Render on newer cards)
- geode (GX and LX variants, Copy/Solid/Composite) - README, code
Work in progress:
No work started, but capable of Render acceleration:
- glide
- glint (supported in KAA)
- i740
- imstt
- newport
- impact
- rendition
- trident (supported in KAA)
- voodoo
No work started, some chips might be capable of Render acceleration:
- apm (via the voodoo rush)
- cirrus (laguna?)
- neomagic (256XL+ was the only one with a 3D engine) (supported in KAA)
- cyrix/nsc (new GX2s have an alpha combiner)
- sun{ffb,leo}
No work started, no Render acceleration possible:
- ark
- chips (supported in KAA)
- s3 (supported in KAA)
- sun{bw2,cg14,cg3,cg6,tcx} (tcx has some EXA support in NetBSD tree: WebCVS Link)
- tga
- tseng
Probably unsuitable for EXA support:
- dummy
- fbdev
- vesa
- vga
- vmware
- wsfb


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December 15, 2011
Twins Notes: Comings, goings, returns, and engagements
• Arbitration-eligible players Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins, and Alexi Casilla were tendered contracts, but the Twins non-tendered Jose Mijares and made him a free agent. Terry Ryan's explanation for the move was odd, as he said the decision "gets up to how much he's going to make" and "we decided we didn't want to go there." Ryan also indicated that the Twins tried to work out a pre-deadline contract with Mijares to avoid non-tendering him, but he declined.
Non-tendering players rather than paying them undeserved arbitration raises is common, but that doesn't really apply in Mijares' case. He was paid $445,000 in 2011 and would've been in line for a raise to at most $750,000, which is only $270,000 more than the new MLB minimum salary and represents 0.75 percent of the payroll. If the Twins thought he was worth keeping around cutting Mijares loose over money when "money" is only $270,000 makes little sense.
Clearly they lost all faith in Mijares as his velocity dipped and he totaled as many walks (30) as strikeouts (30) in 49 innings, but he's still just 27 years old and prior to falling apart in 2011 he had a 2.49 ERA in 105 career innings. His secondary numbers have never been as good as his ERA, but given that the Twins aren't exactly overflowing with quality relievers and the cost to keep the hefty lefty around was little more than the minimum salary the move surprised me.
• Along with non-tendering Mijares the Twins also sliced Jim Hoey and Pedro Florimon from the 40-man roster. Hoey was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays, leaving only marginal relief prospect Brett Jacobson to show for last winter's misguided J.J. Hardy trade with the Orioles. Florimon, whom the Twins claimed off waivers from the Orioles last week, cleared waivers this time around and was assigned to Triple-A.
Claiming and waiving a player within the span of a week might seem silly, but Florimon has the potential to be a decent utility infielder and now the Twins can stash him in the minors without using up a 40-man roster spot. I've long felt the Twins should be more willing to shuffle guys through the fringes of the 40-man roster, so while Florimon is hardly a high-upside player the maneuvering surrounding him was nice to see.
Hoey perhaps deserved a longer opportunity based on his minor-league numbers and mid-90s fastball, but his complete lack of control and quality off-speed pitches weren't encouraging and at 29 years old he's far from a prospect. Hoey wasn't totally without potential when the Twins acquired him and he's exactly the type of reliever teams should take fliers on in minor trades, but the problem is that trading Hardy was anything but a minor mistake, then and now.
• Signing veteran minor leaguers to help Rochester be competitive after back-to-back 90-loss seasons is clearly a priority for the Twins and the latest batch is Rene Rivera, P.J. Walters, and Sean Burroughs. Rivera split this year between Rochester and Minnesota, helping to fill in for Joe Mauer behind the plate, but was trimmed from the 40-man roster in October. He's the epitome of a replacement-level catcher and handy enough to have around at Triple-A.
Walters was traded from the Cardinals to the Blue Jays in the seven-player swap headlined by Colby Rasmus and Edwin Jackson on July 27, but Toronto let him become a free agent three months later and his track record is pretty underwhelming. Walters briefly looked like a decent prospect back in 2007 and his strikeout rates are solid, but the 26-year-old right-hander has a high-80s fastball, mediocre control, and a 4.63 ERA in 484 innings at Triple-A.
Burroughs was the ninth overall pick in the 1998 draft and Baseball America ranked him as one of the game's top 10 prospects in 2000, 2001, and 2002. His big-league career started off well enough, as Burroughs debuted for the Padres as a 21-year-old and hit .289/.345/364 through his first 339 games, but he never developed any power, regressed in other areas, struggled with substance abuse, and was finished at age 25. Or so it seemed.
After three seasons out of baseball Burroughs signed a minor-league deal with Arizona, whose general manager Kevin Towers was the GM in San Diego who drafted him. He worked his way back to the majors by hitting .412 in 34 games at Triple-A and then struggled in 78 games as a bench bat, hitting .273/.289/.336 with an ugly strikeout-to-walk ratio. Burroughs is one of the biggest prospect busts of the 2000s, but at age 30 still qualifies as intriguing Triple-A depth.
• Just five weeks after Bill Smith was fired as general manager Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com reports that he's close to returning to the organization in a "special assistant" role that would involve running the Twins' efforts in Latin America and their spring training complex in Florida. Smith was overmatched and then some as a GM, but handled the firing amazingly well publicly and has been with the Twins since the mid-1980s, so their showing him loyalty isn't surprising.
• Nick Punto signed a two-year, $3 million deal with the Red Sox to replace Jed Lowrie, who was traded to the Astros for Mark Melancon. As always, in a bench role with a modest salary Punto is an excellent fit on just about any team. Unfortunately the Twins played him too much and paid him $4 million in both 2009 and 2010 (plus a $500,000 buyout to avoid paying him $5 million in 2011). He'll now be paid a total of $4 million for his first three post-Twins seasons.
• Kevin Slowey avoided arbitration with the Rockies, agreeing to a one-year, $2.7 million deal.
• Jacque Jones, whom I rated as the 30th-best player in Twins history, has been hired by his hometown Padres as a Single-A hitting coach. He last played at Triple-A for the Twins in 2010.
• Mauer got engaged to fellow Cretin-Derham Hall graduate Maddie Bisanz.


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An Official Website of the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Your business may be required by state and federal law or regulation to have an environmental permit to operate in Kentucky. The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, and attached independent commissions, administers environmental regulation, protection, and oversight for natural resources in the Commonwealth.
The Kentucky Department for Natural Resources is a regulatory and inspection agency which provides technical assistance, education and funding to help landowners, institutions, industries, and communities in conserving and sustaining Kentucky's natural resources.
The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection implements programs that control air emissions, water discharges, water withdrawals, waste management and waste disposal. Many of these programs require that businesses and operators obtain permits or authorizations prior to engaging in these activities. Some permits are required before a business can begin construction. The specific environmental regulations and permits that may apply will vary depending on the specific location and activities of your business.
Businesses are encouraged to contact the Division of Compliance Assistance to ensure that they receive a comprehensive understanding of all of the permits or authorizations that may apply to their unique circumstances.
The Kentucky Public Service Commission is a three member administrative body with quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial duties and powers regulating over 1,500 utilities. Currently, the Commission regulates the intrastate rates and services of investor-owned electric, natural gas, telephone, water and sewage utilities, customer-owned electric and telephone cooperatives, water districts and associations, and certain aspects of gas pipelines.
The Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission is charged with monitoring and preserving rare species and natural communities throughout the Commonwealth.
Each county in Kentucky is represented by a local conservation district, consisting of seven elected supervisors. These conservation districts assist the landowners in each county with creating and implementing practices to protect the soil and water quality. The conservation districts help conserve Kentucky's resources by helping local people match their needs with technical and financial resources. The Division of Conservation has resources to help you find your local district.


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The Music of Get Tribal
(Kari Hohne)
Blending mantra style compositions in a fusion of modern and ethnic rhythms, Get Tribal creates music that is perfect for meditation and yoga.
"When we dream we enter the world of the Shaman. Whether dreaming or drumming, we connect with a deeper part of the mind. I use shamanic percussion and mantra style compositions to connect the listener to the same transcendental awareness Shamans seek."
The music of Get Tribal was a natural progression from Kari's works with shamans, dreams and ancient wisdom. Her knowledge of archetypes and studying with Shamans all over the world, led her to blend her world style of music into a sound that is soulful and sexy.
Each composition is centered on ethnic rhythms that inspire the same type of awakening that Shamans seek. "I believe music can awaken the same truths we find in our ancient texts."
Each track is designed to awaken the energetic body, igniting consciousness with inner wisdom. We strive to create meditative openings in our music and seek to energize the emotions. Get Tribal received a nomination for Best New Artist in 2014 and God of Drum was nominated for Best World Album at ZMR. In 2015, their new release Radio God received a nomination for Best Chill, Groove Album.
Our Newest Release!
Radio God is inspired by Kirtan style mantras, blending world spiritual music in a tapestry of ethnic rhythms and and modern beats creating a super chill -- sensual landscape. Perfect for yoga and exercise, these tracks will allow you to hold Asanas longer and meditate through exercise. Additionally, the Shamanic rhythms are designed to root the body while the melodies allow Spirit to dance. Click on the image above to listen to samples and read about the inspiration behind each track. Blending many media elements and styles together, Radio God is the result.
God of Drum was nominated for Best World album in 2014. Using Shamanic drumming and juxtaposing chants from various parts of the world, it is inspired by the thunder deities of different regions. This world fusion album was designed for chakra meditation and you can actually feel the tonality of the myriad of drums moving through the chakra centers in the body. The album received acclaim for its fresh and invigorating soundscape and the scope of its vision. Click the image above to read reviews and learn more about this album.
Get Tribal blends ancient rhythms with modern beats in an electronic new age style of world fusion music influenced by ancient wisdom and healing customs. Their first album, the critically-acclaimed God of Drum, is based on Shamanic rhythms that move listeners through their chakra centers. God of Drum is inspired by the thunder deities around the
world and each composition is based on ancient shamanic drumming. "Drumming" Kari says, "is proven to provide relaxation and transcendental awareness. It was the first sound we heard in the womb and has a way of quieting the chatter of ego where Spirit can guide us in meditation."
The group's newest release, Radio God, focuses on drumming, yet is inspired by world chants and spiritual melodies, with energetic and modern sounds that uplift the spirit. Radio God opens meditative vistas with a rhythmic renaissance inspired by Kirtan, chanting and ancient songs.
Kari describes Radio God as being "inspired by the idea that if all music past and present returned as sound waves from space, the melody would play as a timeless and universal message of unity: "Om."


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The George M. Sutton Avian Research Center was named after George Miksch Sutton (1898-1982), who until his death served as Professor Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma and as an example to all aspiring field ornithologists. Who's Who gives a thorough account of this "most prominent ornithologist of his time." A recently-published bibliography of his works lists 13 books, 18 monographs and museum publications, 201 journal articles, 12 book reviews, four obituaries, 18 popular articles and eight essays. He also illustrated at least another 18 books. As "Doc" was so intensely interested in hands-on studies of birds in the field, we felt it most fitting to commemorate this dedicated individual by naming the research center after him.
Dr. Jerome Jackson authored a biography of Sutton, published by University of Oklahoma Press in 2007. A short biography appears below.
An Eye for Birds — The Life of George Miksch Sutton
by Jerome A. Jackson
George Miksch Sutton was born in Bethany, Nebraska, on 16 May 1898. He was the only son and oldest child of Harry Trumbull Sutton and Lola Anna Mix Sutton. We know of Doc (as he was known to all who knew him) as a result of his art, his ornithology, his popular writings, his philanthropy, and for some lucky ones among us, his friendship. To better understand the man that George became, it helps to know his parents and of his youth. George wrote of his youth in his autobiography, Bird Student (1980, Univ. Oklahoma Press), but many of the details included there are recollections that are not completely accurate. In the course of preparing a more detailed biography of Sutton, I have ferreted out many new details. In the paragraphs that follow I share only a brief glimpse of this man: George Miksch Sutton.
Harry Trumbull Sutton was a minister and a teacher at Cotner College in Bethany when George was born — the chairman of the Department of Eloquence, a wonderful name that at any college today would be the "Department of Speech" or "Communications." But "Eloquence" was befitting the times and the man. Harry was a master at recitation of the works of Shakespeare and frequently travelled to perform his recitations as well as to preach at various churches. In 1906, Harry ran for governor of Nebraska on the Prohibition ticket, though he lost by a considerable margin. His wife, Lola Anna Mix, was of Moravian ancestry. She had been born Lola Anna Miksch, but when her family moved to Minnesota during her teens, her father changed the family name to its phonetic spelling "Mix" in order to better fit in. Although she used the name "Mix" during her tenure at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, she never really approved of the change. To perpetuate the family name, she gave each of her children the middle name"Miksch." Harry and Lola had travelled with the Chautauqua program in the 1890s, Harry lecturing and Lola leading songs and playing the piano. Lola was 30 when they settled down in Bethany and George was born. Throughout her life she taught music and occasionally English. George certainly came to share his father's eloquence and his mother's love of music.
One of the most influential features of George's childhood was that his family moved frequently. In 1901 they moved to Aitkin, Minnesota. By 1903, they were back in Bethany, Nebraska. Around 1907 they moved to Ashland, Oregon, and shortly after that, to Eugene, Oregon. A year later they were in Eureka, Illinois. In 1910, his parents split up while his mother studied music in Chicago. For a year, George and his sisters were separated, George living with his grandparents in Winnebago, Minnesota. In 1911, the family was back in Illinois, then moved to Ft. Worth, Texas, and by 1914 had moved to Bethany, West Virginia. The positive sides of this itinerant youth were that George saw America and learned much about regional differences and similarities in habitats and birds, that he was quite close to his family, and that he became incredibly self-reliant. The negative side was that George had little opportunity to establish long-term friendships with other children or his teachers.
Birds were the threads that provided continuity through his childhood. At the age of five his parents gave him Frank Chapman's book Bird-Life. At the age of 10 he corresponded with a journal editor about his observations of swallows catching feathers. At age 11 he got his first bird-skinning lessons. At age 12 his first bird drawing (of an oriole at its nest) was published, and George joined the American Ornithologists' Union. At age 13, George took mail order taxidermy lessons from the Northwestern School of Taxidermy in Omaha, and was keeping a menagerie of birds and mammals –including a skunk– and was attending classes as a special high school student at Texas Christian University. By age 16, George had published articles in The Oologist and Bird-Lore.
In 1915, George began corresponding with the famed bird artist, Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Fuertes responded with kindness and constructive criticism. This was exactly the stimulus that he needed; he was on the path he had been seeking. During late summer of 1916, George traveled by train to spend a few weeks with Fuertes. Although he painted no birds while he was there, the experience was crucial.
In 1918, George began work at the Carnegie Museum, at first in charge of the egg collection, but later accompanying W.E.C. Todd on field expeditions to Labrador and the far north. Although he was to have graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, in 1919, he was expelled instead — for leading a student revolt against mandatory ROTC training at the college. In 1923 he was allowed to finish his work there and finally graduated.
In 1925 George left Carnegie to become State Ornithologist for Pennsylvania, a position from which he defended birds of prey to sportsmen and which included travel throughout the state. This work ultimately resulted in his first book, An Introduction to the Birds of Pennsylvania (1928). George quit his job as State Ornithologist in 1929 in order to begin graduate research for the Ph.D. under Arthur Allen of Cornell University. He left Pennsylvania in the summer of 1929 to spend a year on Southampton Island in the Canadian Arctic. On his return, he settled in at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, to complete course work and his dissertation. It was there that he met and became a lifelong friend of Sewall Pettingill. Following graduate school, Doc remained at Cornell as Curator of Birds, travelling frequently to collect specimens and to paint. He maintained his ties with Carnegie, joining further expeditions to the Arctic, Texas, and Mexico. During these years he also wrote two books, Eskimo Year (1934) and Birds in the Wilderness (1936), and illustrated several others. Although employed at Cornell, Doc developed close ties with Joselyn Van Tyne at the University of Michigan, spent summers working at the University of Michigan field station, and sought a position at the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. When one was finally offered, he chose to stay at Cornell.
With the outbreak of World War II, Doc felt obliged to enlist. He inquired of opportunities in both the Navy and Army and was finally enlisted in the Army Air Corps to test Arctic survival gear. While stationed at various bases in North America, Doc continued painting birds and writing for both professional and popular audiences. He rose to the rank of Major shortly before he was discharged with undulant fever. While in the Army Air Corps, Sutton birded with other Army ornithologists such as Sergeant Roger Tory Peterson and Lieutenant Franklin McCamey. Peterson once told me that he could never think of Sutton without thinking "Sir." Following the War, Doc got another offer of employment at the University of Michigan and this time he took it.
Another book, Mexican Birds: First Impressions, appeared in 1951. This book elaborated on articles he had published in Audubon Magazine during the 1940s and stimulated further work that ultimately led to the establishment of the Rancho de Cielo field station.
Unfortunately, the long sought position at Michigan didn't work out to his liking — apparently in part due to a personality conflict with Van Tyne. At a distance they had become good friends; being close destroyed that friendship. Doc began looking for employment elsewhere. He wanted a full-time faculty position.
In the summer of 1951, Doc taught at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station and established contacts that led, in 1952, to a position as Professor of Zoology at the University of Oklahoma. The same year, Doc was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bethany College. Doc and his friend Sewall Pettingill, along with Sewall's wife, Eleanor, spent the summer of 1958 in Iceland. It was a grand adventure that resulted in Doc's book Iceland Summer. One of the paintings Doc created, of a Gyrfalcon on a ledge, was used in preparing an Icelandic postage stamp. For his book and artwork focusing on Iceland, George Miksch Sutton became "Sir George Miksch Sutton" when he was awarded the Knight Cross Order of the Falcon by the Icelandic government in 1972.
Sutton's book, Oklahoma Birds (1967), came as culmination of a long effort that had stimulated ornithological research throughout the state. Although Doc officially retired from the University of Oklahoma in 1968, he remained as Curator of Birds at the Stovall Museum and as George Lynn Cross Research Professor Emeritus. He also continued to work with graduate students, to paint, and to write.
More books appeared: in 1971, High Arctic; in 1972, At a Bend in a Mexican River; in 1975, Portraits of Mexican Birds; and in 1977, Fifty Common Birds of Oklahoma and the Southern Great Plains. In 1977 he was named "Master Wildlife Artist" by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum in Wisconsin. In 1979, Doc published his correspondence with Louis Agassiz Fuertes in To a Young Bird Artist — a book that should be must reading for any aspiring bird artist. Throughout his life George Sutton was a bridge between birds and people and between amateur birders and professional ornithologists. His artwork illustrated many books and the covers of several journals. These included longtime cover illustrations for the cover of the Sewickley Valley Audubon Society journal, The Cardinal; for the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union journal, Nebraska Bird Review; and for the Wilson Bulletin (two different covers). Early in his professional life he committed himself to supporting professional ornithology and he was especially supportive of the Wilson Ornithological Society. In addition to his cover illustrations, Doc served as President of the Society, and later as Editor of the Wilson Bulletin. He contributed many color plates and other illustrations to that journal and in 1972 donated funds to establish the Sutton Color Plate Fund to assure that there could be a color plate in each issue of the Wilson Bulletin. Doc also nourished the Oklahoma Ornithological Society with funds, artwork, his expertise and enthusiasm.
Over the years Doc's art evolved from illustration of birds to illustration of birds in their habitats. He sought recognition as a fine artist, not merely as an illustrator of birds. In my opinion his later art, as exemplified in High Arctic, made him deserving of that recognition. Sutton was a master with pen and ink and with watercolor. His paintings of baby birds are especially exciting. He knew birds; he knew his medium; he understood light.
Although Doc didn't like to sell his paintings, when there was a need, he was there. His art helped raise funds for Rancho de Cielo, for the Oklahoma City Zoo, for scholarships at the University of Oklahoma, for a diorama at the University of Minnesota Museum of Natural History, for the purchase of a grand piano at the University of Oklahoma, for funds to assist a friend with cancer, and many other causes. Following a long bout with prostate cancer, George Miksch Sutton died on 7 December 1982. Heeding his wishes, friends took his ashes to the Black Mesa country of western Oklahoma, where they were dispersed by the wind among the birds and habitats he loved so much.
It is not surprising that Doc left behind a number of manuscripts as contributions to the Bulletin of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society, and that his many friends saw to it that his last book, Birds Worth Watching (1986), was brought to fruition.
— Jerome A. Jackson is Whitaker Eminent Scholar and Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. His biography of George Miksch Sutton was published by the University of Oklahoma Press in April 2007.
Presentation video on George Sutton below.


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Fairtrade certified producer organizations and traders are committed to preventing and effectively eliminating all forms of Forced Labour, Child Labour and human trafficking, in accordance with the principles of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). This commitment is enshrined in the Fairtrade Standards for Small Producer Organizations, Hired Labour and Contract Production, and Trader Standards.
Fairtrade recognizes that Child Labour and Forced Labour remain problems in many parts of the world where we operate. Fairtrade is committed to playing a positive role in enabling producers, workers and processors to adopt a rights-based approach to eliminating exploitative labour practices, by working cooperatively with Fairtrade Producer Networks and their producer and worker organizations, including suppliers, industry, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and governmental bodies, to address abuses that may exist in Fairtrade global supply chains.
Fairtrade's Child Labour and Forced Labour Guidelines serve as operational steps to be followed by Fairtrade producer organization and processors within their own operations and, in addition, should be communicated to all operators with whom they do business.
Child Labour
According to ILO estimates, there are around 168 million child labourers in the world; around half of them working in hazardous conditions.
In recent years, Fairtrade International (FLO) has dedicated considerable resources to strengthening our work to protect children. Child labour is not only a problem perpetuated by poverty and unfair terms of trade, it is also a result of exploitation, lack of access to quality education and social protection, discrimination, conflict, HIV/AIDS and natural disasters, among others.
Child labour is a complex universal issue affecting boys and girls in most countries of the world. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) there are around 168 million child labourers in the world; nearly half of them work in hazardous conditions. Risk analyst firm Maplecroft rates 76 countries as at 'extreme' risk of child labour.
Child labour refers to work that is harmful to a child's physical and mental health and wellbeing, and/or interferes with their education, leisure and development. Child labour does not refer to children or adolescents helping around the house or on the family farm outside of school hours and during school holidays provided that this work is appropriate to their level of development.
International law separates child labour into 3 categories:
- Unconditional worst forms of child labour, such as slavery, commercial sexual exploitation and the use of children in illicit activities;
- Hazardous work, which is to be defined by each country in consultation with workers and employers);
- Labour performed under the minimum age as established by law.
It is estimated that 98 million children and youth work in agriculture. Many of them do not attend any form of school, have little time to play, do not receive proper nutrition or care and more than half of them are exposed to the worst forms of child labour (e.g. work in hazardous environments, slavery, or other forms of forced labour). Many of the types of work girls and boys are involved in are hidden and therefore difficult to track, suggesting that the actual number of child labourers could be much higher, especially for some girls.
Identifying and addressing child labour while respecting the rights of adolescents and youth to appropriate work is important yet challenging. Investing in and ensuring child rights now is both the right thing to do and an investment in the future of agricultural communities.
The Fairtrade Approach
We believe that children in Fairtrade communities can play a central role in empowering themselves and their communities to combat poverty, strengthen their position, and take more control over their lives.
Fairtrade is committed to fighting the root causes of child labour and proactively preventing the abuse and exploitation of children. We seek advice and guidance from expert international non-governmental organizations to ensure that the rights of children are upheld, including their right to live in a safe and protective environment.
We work with Fairtrade producer communities to encourage them to establish a child-inclusive, community-based monitoring and remediation system on child labour in partnership with child rights NGOs so that boys and girls in producer communities can enjoy increased well-being.
Putting child protection first
Fairtrade International has instituted a mandatory Child Protection Policy and Procedure for all Fairtrade staff and consultants, which demonstrates our commitment to not only actively preventing child labour, but also ensuring our approach and methods of identifying and remediating the unacceptable work does not cause more harm. We remain committed to solving children's real problems and not producing new ones for them. In so doing, we honour our obligations toward the safety and welfare of children.
We follow the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), especially the guiding principles, including "Best Interests of the Child" and note that these should be given primary consideration, in addition to the relevant International Labour Organization Conventions.
A Child-Centered Approach
We believe that children and youth in Fairtrade communities, where possible, should play a central role in empowering themselves and their communities to combat poverty, strengthen their position and take more control over their lives. Our child-inclusive approach builds on the capacity of children and youth in producer communities to contribute to self-monitoring, managing and tackling child labour within their own lives in an on-going, sustainable basis so they become agents of active change in building prosperous lives in agriculture.
How Child Labour is addressed in the Fairtrade Standards
Fairtrade prohibits child labour as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) minimum age and the worst forms of child labour conventions. No person or product certification system can, however, provide a 100% guarantee that a product is free of child labour.
What Fairtrade guarantees is that if we find breaches to our child labour requirements, we take immediate action to protect the impacted child or children. We work with national child protection agencies and/or child rights organizations when possible to ensure duty bearers engage in safe remediation and secure the impacted child's/children's long-term wellbeing. We then work with the producer organization to help them strengthen their programs and systems to detect and prevent child labour. Failure to have adequate systems in place leads to suspension and then decertification if the producer organization does not address the problem. Fairtrade has chosen to work in products and regions with known risk of child labour because this is where our work is most needed.
Specific criteria in the Fairtrade Standards that apply directly to child labour include.
- Children below the age of 15 are not to be employed by Fairtrade organizations either directly or indirectly.
- Children below the age of 18 cannot undertake in work that jeopardises schooling or the social, moral or physical development of the person
- Children are only allowed to help on family farms under strict conditions. The work must be age appropriate and be done outside of school hours or during holidays.
- If a small producer organization is in an area with a high likelihood of child labour, they are encouraged to include a mitigation and elimination plan in their Fairtrade Development Plan
- If an organization has identified child labour as a risk, the organization must implement policy and procedures to prevent children from being employed.
Please find complete information in the respective Fairtrade Standards here.
Beyond the Standards
As part of efforts to ensure that producers remain compliant on the requirements of Fairtrade Standards, Fairtrade has been encouraging producers in the informal sectors to take a leadership role in going beyond minimum standard requirements and play a proactive and continuous role to improve the real conditions for children and youth in their communities.
Other efforts include:
- Engagement with child rights experts – We are building partnerships with expert organizations and have sought feedback from partners and received their recommendations for developing a rights-based strategy and framework of action for eliminating child labor in key agricultural commodities
- Focus groups with children in Fairtrade communities – Fairtrade International conducts focus groups with school-going girls and boys in Fairtrade communities to find out about their education, work, future aspirations and the impact of Fairtrade on their lives – essential inputs as we continuously improve our proactive approach to increased wellbeing of girls and boys and young people.
- Training Fairtrade staff – Child labour and child protection training has been given to all relevant staff at Fairtrade International's headquarters and in producer countries, including liaison officers in all our regions of operations. A second phase of training in countries and commodities identified by the U.S. Department of Labor List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour among others is currently underway.
Additional Links and Information
- FLO-CERT Certification Requirements – Find all relevant certification requirements for Fairtrade producers and traders here.
- FLO-CERT SCORE Certification Model for Small Producer Organizations – Includes all core and development criteria that producers must meet for Fairtrade certification.
- Fairtrade's rights-based approach for the prevention of child labour being implemented in Fiji – Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand
- Information on the International Labour Organization's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour
- Children's Contribution to Working and Caring for the Land (PDF) – Published by the Canadian International Development Agency, 2006
- US Department of Labor List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor – Published by the US Department of Labor
- Making Progress Against Child Labour – Published by the International Labour Organization (ILO), 2013
- Maplecroft Child Labour Index 2012
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Child Rights International Network
- Read Fairtrade News on Child Labour here.


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Self-Defense Groups in Mexico
More Info
Drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico in conjunction with impunity and government corruption have forced Mexican communities to take the law into their own hands. As a response to President Peña Nieto's avoidance of direct confrontation with cartels, vigilante groups have sprung up in an attempt to end years of violence and extortion, accomplishing what military and police have not managed in a decade. Self-defense groups patrol their neighborhoods and detain criminals, and subject them to community judicial processes. Detainees have been beaten, forced into labor, and even lynched, leading many Mexicans fear these groups only contribute to violence. Currently, there are 36 armed civil movements in eight Mexican states, 20 of which are located in the state of Guerrero.


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The 10 Best Movies Leaving Netflix In December 2021
As 2021 comes to a close, it's time to reflect back on our past resolutions for the year. Maybe you decided to exercise more, or read a certain number of books. Or perhaps as you were scrolling through Netflix, you vowed to watch that one movie that you'd never gotten around to seeing. But Netflix is notorious for swapping out its titles every few months, and who can blame them? It's how they keep their ever-rotating library of content fresh. Not to mention, the complications of streaming licenses and contracts make it difficult to keep movies around on the platform forever.
Now, if a movie is a Netflix-produced title, it will always be available for streaming. But what about less recent films that were made before Netflix even existed? These movies can always disappear from the platform at the end of any given month. But where do they go? While it seems like they just disappear into some digital ether, many popular titles will end up on another streaming service eventually — but there's no guarantees. Luckily, Netflix gives viewers a heads-up so they can binge-watch their favorite titles before they leave the platform.
Below, you'll find ten great movies that are sadly departing Netflix at the end of the month. The good news? You have plenty of time to watch all of them, if you'd like — or just the ones that catch your eye. Heck, maybe you've seen all of them and just want to rewatch them before they bid Netflix adieu.


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How Healthy Eating Helps
Mom was right: You've got to eat well to function well. Just in case you didn't gobble up Mom's wisdom, here are some useful tidbits.
Among other benefits, good food can:
- boost your energy
- lower the risk of developing certain diseases
- provide fuel to your brain
- counteract the impact of stress on your body
- affect mood-related body chemicals
In an unhappy twist, good nutrition can help at times of stress, but that's exactly when lots of us tend to eat less well. According to a recent survey nearly half of Americans overeat or eat unhealthy food to cope with stress. In fact, it's not just that we're seeking creamy comfort—our stress hormones actually give us the munchies.
Still, if you follow some reasonable guidelines you may be able to reduce your stress and promote your overall health and well-being.
The Basic Ingredients
No one knows exactly which foods promote maximum mental health. But following some basic suggestions can boost your energy, mood and overall wellness. We can't cover all the elements of nutrition here, so we're offering a few morsels:
- Consider Uncle Sam's recipe. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which builds the food pyramid, says a healthy diet
- emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fat-free or low-fat dairy products
- includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs and nuts
- is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugars
- Don't skip meals. Eating consistently throughout the day provides your brain and body with a steady supply of fuel. It also prevents your blood sugar from dropping, which can cause nervousness, irritability and other problems.
- Snack well. Sustain your energy—and your ability to resist the vending machine—by packing healthy snacks. Try to keep some nuts, whole or dried fruit or other portable food in your bag or backpack.
- Work on your balance. Maybe you know that your body needs a varied diet. But have you thought about your brain? Your brain needs a healthy supply of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, or it can't perform functions that affect your mood and thinking.
- Don't over-diet. Eat to be healthy and fit—not to fit into a certain pair of jeans. Strict food rules usually backfire, and excessive dieting can be dangerous. If you or someone you know seems at risk of an eating disorder, professional counseling can help.
For additional nutritional information, see mypyramid.gov. You'll find a food tracker, menu planner and other tools.
Food Warnings
Some foods just pack on pounds and bring no nutrition to the table. Others can deflate your mood or wreck your sleep. Still, you probably don't have to give up all your goodies. Take a look at a few cautions:
- Be carb smart. Carbohydrates can boost the body chemical serotonin, creating a relaxed feeling. But sweets and other refined carbs can cause your blood sugar to rise and drop, ultimately resulting in a loss of energy. To stay steady, pick carbs that enter your blood slowly and evenly, like whole-grain breads, fruits and veggies.
- Reduce saturated fat and cholesterol. Your brain needs a strong blood supply to function well. Saturated fats and cholesterol can narrow your blood vessels, so watch out for too much red meat, egg yolks, butter and whole milk. Look for healthy fats like the ones found in fish, avocados, olive oil and nuts.
- Limit alcohol. If you're stressed out, alcohol may seem to offer relief. However, it actually adds stress to your body and cause problems like disturbed sleep and poor judgment.
- Cut back on caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it can make you nervous and restless. A cup of coffee can also wreck your sleep—even if you drink it hours before bed. Caffeine also may worsen depression. If you've been imbibing a lot, cut back slowly or you'll risk withdrawal.
Diet And Depression
Some evidence links depression and nutrition, though some of the research is still under debate. Nutrients that may play a role in combating depression include:
- Vitamin B-12 and folate. Good sources of B-12 are fish like salmon and trout and fortified breakfast cereals. Folate is found in dark leafy vegetables, almonds, dairy and fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals.
- Omega-3 fatty acids. The best sources of omega-3 fatty acids are fatty fish like salmon, catfish and trout. Other sources include ground flaxseeds, walnuts and omega-3 fortified eggs.
If you're feeling depressed, diet alone is likely not the answer. Consider contacting a mental health professional.
Source – MentalHealthAmerica (https://www.mhanational.org/)


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Election night 2012.
As my gay friends, blindly devoted to President Obama, danced with joy at the news that gay marriage was being approved by popular vote in three states… the first of its kind, that an 'out' lesbian had been elected to the US senate and that 'their guy' was going back to the White House… I shifted uncomfortably in my bed.
In May, after years of unconvincingly claiming that his (Obama's) view on gay marriage was "evolving", it miraculously matured five months before an election as support from gay and lesbian voters and young people – who are far more likely to support marriage equality – appeared to be softening. A month later he halted the deportation of thousands of young undocumented immigrants with an executive order.
He could have done either one at any time.
The Guardian
As the results came in I watched my Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr feeds explode.
Lance Black told us that he was crying so hard with gratitude for the people of Maine, so blinded by tears he could scarcely post his thanks on Facebook.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." he wept.
I kept thinking: Republicans want your money, Democrats want your hope. What's worse? All night I knew that I was witnessing something sickeningly dishonest, as ersatz as the twin towers crumbling seem to conspiracy theorists.
I wondered again and again about the relative values of my gay brethren. You see, I couldn't stop thinking about just one gay man. I was plagued with the young face of Bradley Manning who presently sits in jail, a victim of Obama's rarely mentioned dark side. Since July 2010 he has been kept naked and in solitary confinement. According to his family he is going slowly insane.
Manning, you may remember, had blown the whistle on American war crimes in Iraq. He posted videos, unleashed a torrent of classified information to Wikileaks… his fury knew no bounds. He had every reason to be angry. He related to the wholesale cruelty and injustice being perpetrated on the Iraqi people. Manning's had a crippling history of emotional abuse, neglect, bullying and abandonment .
As a teenager he was taken to the UK by his British mother. At school in Wales he became the target of bullying because he was the only American. The students would imitate his accent, and they apparently abandoned him once during a camping trip. His aunt told The Washington Post: "He woke up, and all the tents around him were gone. They left while he was sleeping." He was also targeted for being effeminate.
As an adult he had one of two choices, he could take it out on himself like so many gay men and kill himself… or he could take it out on those who gave him the most pain. He was rightly furious at how he was being personally treated by the military… facing his own demons as well as the worlds. Every day he bore witness to atrocities against the Iraqi people, (the very people he was apparently trying to protect) and the atrocity of institutionalized homophobia.
Some soldiers, driven mad by war, punish Iraqis. A soldier walks into a village on his own and kills innocent men, women and children. Some take it out on each other, a soldier rapes or damages or kills a colleague. We know these stories. They are legion.
Bradley Manning knew the truth had to be revealed.
The material he disseminated included videos of the July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike and the 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan; 250,000 United States diplomatic cables; and 500,000 army reports that came to be known as the Iraq War logs and Afghan War logs.
It was the largest set of restricted documents ever leaked to the public.
The Wikipedia page for Manning has a great deal of unsubstantiated detail describing his 'true nature', over turning tables, punching women in the face, carving words into a chair.
Meanwhile, the heteronormative lesbian (Tammy Baldwin), looking like Laura Bush in her puce, slubbed silk jacket was on her way to the Senate. Hailed by the gays (even the ones who have no lesbian or even women friends) as the great Sappho answer to the LGBT political conundrum, applauding as she goes down on the neo-liberal pussy… rainbow bunting festoons her office. Is Tammy Baldwin our LGBT hero? Will the people of Maine win a GLAAD award like the people of Europe won the Nobel Peace Prize?
Bradley Manning is a true hero, a gay hero, a young man of conscience… yet he has been all but abandoned by the gay community. Where are his GLAAD awards? His rainbow bunting? His gay applause?
Don't weep for the people of Maine for voting on something that shouldn't even have been on the ballot. Weep for Bradley Manning who sits in a cell today for showing all of you the crimes being committed in your name.
According to the New York Times, preparing President Obama for his first Presidential debate against Mitt Romney proved an impossible task for even his most trusted advisors.
David Axelrod, a senior strategist, told a surly Mr. Obama that he seemed distracted, but the President shrugged him off. "I'll be there on game day," he said. "I'm a game day player."
As it turned out the President was not a 'game day player', famously caught off guard by Romney's meticulous debate preparation he crashed and burned leaving many of his most ardent supporters wondering why they were supporting him at all.
There's something horribly revealing about this story. It betrays exactly who Barack Obama is. Aloof, dismissive and far more confident in his own ability than he should be.
For those who have performed on stage can confirm, no amount of rehearsal is long enough for any performance. The dress rehearsal is imperative, it is at the dress rehearsal where all catastrophic mistakes will be made, never to be made again. To have no rehearsal, no dress rehearsal, to stand on stage without any preparation whatsoever is arrogant at best, monumentally dumb at worst. Arrogance may be Obama's defining character defect. More details reveal the President to be an even less sympathetic character.
Two startling facts:
Obama has never entertained either President Carter nor Clinton at the White House and complains frequently about being under valued.
"Stories abound of big donors who stopped giving as much or working as hard because Obama never reached out, either with a Clinton-esque warm bath of attention or Romney-esque weekend love fests and Israeli-style jaunts; of celebrities who gave concerts for his campaigns and never received thank-you notes or even his full attention during the performance; of public servants upset because they knocked themselves out at the president's request and never got a pat on the back."
There is an obvious lack of sophistication about the first couple that no amount of Jason Woo, Simon Doonan table settings or fancy interior decoration will ever mask.
Obama's arrogance, his ego maniacal obsession with his own success would be worth something if he had some huge scheme, some Housman type plan, some Churchillian grandiosity, some Napoleonic zeal but all his arrogance boils down to… well, a miserable compromise. Many liberals were annoyed during the first Obama term that Bush-era strong-arm tactics (including the ubiquitous executive order) were not used… even as the President was bullied relentlessly by house Republicans after he lost control of Congress.
After the 'shellacking' he continue his obsequious placating of the far right of the Republican party. Rather than insist on defending his oft lauded centrist position he crawled ignominiously further right to placate his foes. The most annoying leitmotif of President Obama's last four years, a recurring theme… must be his constant reference to himself as The President because if he didn't remind you who he was… you might forget.
"I'm the president." he tells anyone who will listen. "I'm the President!" he smiles, like JayZ might tell you he had sold more tracks on iTunes than any other artist since the Beatles. And if that sounds vaguely racist, I remind you again what Don Lemons told me about The President, "Obama is the kind of black man who looks scared of white people."
There's something to be said for this analysis.
Not wanting to prepare for the Presidential debate reveals Obama's fear of the very men the rest of us want to see him stand up against: The Good ol' Boys. The very same men who are at this moment witnessing the end of their white America, the very same white men who could not believe America would elect a black President twice. The man they had humiliated with obstructionist politics, like tripping the nigger on the side-walk… just because they could. His fear of white people coupled with the pitiful jokes, the self-deprecating bon mot.
"I was too polite." he offered up after the first debate.
It caused radical friends to throw up their hands in fury. Barry Obama, against all the Republican odds, is President re-elect. It is up to him to start taking those who elected him seriously and not for granted. It is up to us to drag this weedy President firmly into the 21st Century.
Americans, it seems, are baying for a modern America. The cabal of white (Republican looking) social engineers who stand behind Obama (Tim Geithner et al) , using their half-black, amiable front man as a shield behind which they steal the money…. well, they need to wake up. There are too many vocal opponents to the wholesale compromise that defined Obama's first term.
Those who supported Obama the second time around are delivering a firm rebuke. They want stuff. The white men who have been controlling Obama, offering false hope to the Latinos and the gays to motivate their base… have opened Pandora's box… yet the evil in the box seems poisonous only to the Republicans… for the rest of us it is the liberal air we breath.
A Gay Poem
by Duncan Roy 2012
Don't let climate change ruin your gay wedding.
Don't let staff shortages due to deportation destroy your special day.
Try not to think about drone attacks on foreign shores.
Concentrate on the $160k baby you can't really afford, grown in the woman whose name will never be known to the unborn child.
You're spending your bonus money on Botox and patching your 25 years old lined forehead with restylane.
Thank God you're marrying a fellow american or ICE officers might be your groomsman.
Thank God you can get married, you'll never be turned away from the hospital as your husband lies dying of a meth overdose.
They found him in the sauna, multiply penetrated, cream pied, still dripping, swaying gently in a sling still wearing his military boots…
on your honeymoon in the leather bars of Berlin.