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Paths to God: Living the Bhagavad Gita352
NOOK Book(eBook)
Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps.
In Paths to God, Ram Dass brings the heart of that system to light for a Western audience and translates the Gita's principles into the manual for living the yoga of contemporary life.
While being a guide to the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, Paths to God is also a template for expanding our definition of ourselves and allowing us to appreciate a new level of meaning in our lives.
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Chapter 1
Context and Conflict
Before we approach the Bhagavad Gita, we need to have a contextual framework for the way it fits into the Mahabharata, of which it's a part. The Mahabharata is one of the two great Indian epics (the Ramayana being the other). The Mahabharata is a huge book-a typical edition runs to nearly six thousand pages. It is said to be the longest literary work in the world; it is seven times the length of The Iliad and The Odyssey combined, and the only unabridged English edition runs to twelve volumes. It's thought to have been written somewhere between 500 and 200 b.c., and it covers a distant period of Indian history: tradition places the battle of Kurukshetra in 3102 b.c., although historians say it was probably more like 1400 b.c. when the events that inspired the Mahabharata took place.
At one level, the Mahabharata is an historical study of a kingdom; but at another level, it is an extraordinary symbological study of all human interactions, of all human emotions and motivations. It's like an incredible psychology book cast in the form of a drama, and it's written from a very conscious point of view, which means that although it can be read just for its romantic, melodramatic story line, it can also be read to uncover its deeper symbolism. And right in the middle of the Mahabharata, on the eve of the climactic battle between the kingdom's two warring families, comes the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna that's called the Bhagavad Gita, or "the Song of God."
The story of the Mahabharata concerns the kingdom of Bharat, in northern India. The king of Bharat had two sons, Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Dhritarashtra was the elder brother, and ordinarily would have been next in line to inherit the throne after their father died; but he had been born blind, and the traditions of the time didn't allow for a blind king, so Pandu became the king instead, and ruled the kingdom.
Now, what it is that Dhritarashtra's blindness represents in the story is something that has been expounded upon with great relish by countless Hindu pundits over the centuries. Some say his blindness represents his attachment to his son, Duryodhana, which makes him blind to the dharma, blind to truth or to higher wisdom. Some say the blindness represents the nature of the human condition, which is blind because it lacks the higher intellect. The symbolism is very rich.
Pandu, the younger brother, the king, had two wives-Kunti and Madri-and he had five children by them. Of these five children (and these turn out to be the good guys, by the way-the Pandavas), Yuddhisthira was the eldest. Yuddhisthira was virtually the embodiment of dharma, although he did have one minor failing, which was that he gambled-he liked to play dice-and that, we will see, is what ultimately leads us to the predicament we find ourselves in at Kurukshetra. Bhima, Pandu's second son, was very strong and rather reckless. Arjuna, the third, was pure, noble, chivalrous, and heroic; he turns out to be our hero in the Gita. And there were two younger sons, twins by Madri.
Dhritarashtra-the elder, blind brother-had a hundred children, all by one wife. (I know a hundred children-but we're just going to have to allow for these strange things in the Mahabharata. We make room for them in the Old Testament, with 120-year-old men having scores of children. So let's just assume that things are different in different times.) Dhritarashtra's wife, Gandhari, was incredibly devoted to him. She was so devoted that since he couldn't see, she kept her own eyes bandaged throughout her entire married life, because she said that it would be unseemly for her to see when her husband was blind. That's devoted!
Well, a few years into his reign, Pandu accidentally killed a Brahmin. Killing a Brahmin, even by accident, is a very bad thing to do, so to atone for it, Pandu retired to the forest to do tapasya (penances), leaving the kingdom in the care of Dhritarashtra. After some years, while he was still away in the forest, Pandu died as the result of a curse, and Dhritarashtra just went on ruling Bharat.
As the children grew up, Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra's eldest son, grew more and more jealous of Yuddhisthira, the eldest son of Pandu. You can see that the laws of succession would be a little hazy in this situation, but it looked as though Yuddhisthira, as the eldest Pandu son, was going to be the one to inherit the kingdom whenever Dhritarashtra died-and Duryodhana wanted it for himself. He pulled every dirty trick in the books to try to get it; the Mahabharata devotes hundreds of pages to descriptions of all the ways Duryodhana went about scheming to get rid of the Pandavas, so he could take over the kingdom. Finally, Duryodhana held a huge celebration, and invited all the Pandavas to attend. He had a magnificent palace built to house them, but he had it made of some very flammable material, and during the night, when he expected all the Pandavas to be asleep inside, he set the building afire. Luckily, the Pandavas had been forewarned by a loyal servant, and so they-the five boys and their mother-had escaped through an underground passage and gone off into the jungle, into hiding.
Now, just to give you a little more of the flavor of this story: While they were in hiding, living in a cave in the jungle, the Pandava boys heard that there was to be a swayamvara, a husband-selecting ceremony, for Draupadi, the beautiful daughter of a very high king, to find a suitable mate for her. All the princes would be there, of course, because they all wanted to marry this rich, beautiful lady.
At the gathering, a number of tasks were set for the would-be suitors: stringing a magical bow, shooting a target by looking at its reflection in a pool of water, feats like that. All the princes tried, and all the princes failed. Then this poor young Brahmin priest came along, and he easily accomplished all the tasks, one after the other. That was Arjuna in drag, of course. So Arjuna won Draupadi's hand, and he and his brothers took her and headed back to their cave in the jungle.
As they approached the cave where they were living, the boys yelled out to Kunti, their mother, Come out, Ma! See what we have brought today!
Kunti was in the cave and couldn't see her sons, but she called out, Whatever it be, share it equally among all of you. That's a good thing for a mother to say to her five children-usually! But this time it meant that all five brothers ended up being the husbands of Draupadi-she had five husbands by the mother's "boon."
Well, after some years in hiding, the Pandavas made their way back to the kingdom of Bharat, and Dhritarashtra (who wasn't a bad guy, really-it was his son who was out of control) insisted that Duryodhana give them a piece of land to rule. Duryodhana, as you'd expect, picked out the worst piece of land in the kingdom to give to the Pandavas; it had nothing going for it. But in spite of that, Yuddhisthira and his brothers made a go of it, and created a very good kingdom, prosperous and well ruled. That just made Duryodhana more jealous than ever, of course; he grew insanely jealous, and all he could think about was plotting against the Pandavas.
Duryodhana remembered that Yuddhishthira, the oldest Pandava brother, really liked playing dice, so he challenged Yuddhisthira to a dice game, and got a crooked dice player to play opposite him. The two of them played out their dice game, and in the course of it Yuddhishthira lost everything: He lost his kingdom, he forfeited his brothers into servitude, he sold Draupadi down the river-everything he had, went.
Duryodhana was ecstatic! He was so haughty about what he'd done that he had Draupadi brought in, planning to strip her naked in front of the court, to shame her. But when he went to pull off her sari, he found that no matter how many saris he pulled away, there was always one more underneath. He had piles of saris everywhere, but Draupadi was still clothed, because she was protected by the purity of the dharma. (And, of course, Krishna, whom the Pandavas had met while they were off in hiding, was helping secretly, on the side.)
When Dhritarashtra heard about the episode with Draupadi, he was so embarrassed by his son's behavior that he offered Draupadi three boons. She said, Well, for the first one, let my husbands go free, and for the second, give them back their weapons. And that's enough-I won't even need the third boon. They'll be able to take care of things from there."
Well, Dhritarashtra kept his promise and freed the Pandavas; but as soon as the brothers were free, Duryodhana sucked Yuddhisthira into another dice game. (Yuddhisthira just never seems to learn, does he?) In this dice game, the losers (who, of course, turned out to be Yuddhisthira and his four brothers) had to go off and live in the jungle for twelve years. And then, in the thirteenth year, it got even worse: They had to hide out for that whole year, because if they were found by Duryodhana during the thirteenth year, they'd have to do still another twelve years in the jungle. But if they made it through all that, Duryodhana promised that at the end of their exile they'd get their kingdom back.
So back they went to the jungle. They did their twelve years, and in the thirteenth year, in order to hide out, they became servants to a king in a neighboring kingdom. Duryodhana tried everything to find them, but he couldn't. At the end of the thirteenth year, they came back to Bharat and presented themselves before Duryodhana and said, "OK, we did it. Now we want our kingdom."
Duryodhana said, Tough. I'm keeping it. He said, I wouldn't even give you enough land to carry on the tip of a needle.
Now that is the background to the situation in which we find ourselves at the time when the events in the Bhagavad Gita are about to take place. That is, Duryodhana has finally pushed the Pandavas too far, and they have no choice now but to fight. Injustice has taken over their kingdom. Arjuna and his brothers have been cheated and lied to; truth has been trampled on. The dharma has to reassert itself-the good guys have to make a statement. War is their only recourse.
At this point in the story, an interesting event takes place: Arjuna and Duryodhana both go to Krishna, who happens to be God in an avataric form, and they both ask him for his help. In a kind of Solomon-like decision, Krishna says to them, "OK, here are your options: One of you can have all of my weapons and all of my armies...and the other one can have me, but without any armies or weapons." Arjuna immediately says, "Well, I want you-forget about the armies." His mind was turned toward God, and so he said, "All I want is God on my side."
Well, Duryodhana was very pleased with that! He, being the worldly, adharmic fellow, said, "That's perfect! I'm very happy. I get all the arms and all the might." So now the bad guys have this huge army, while the good guys have a much smaller force. And Krishna, although he's God, is only the charioteer for Arjuna-he's not even carrying a bow.
At this point, let me introduce you to a little more of Krishna's story, so we can see how he came to this moment on the battlefield. Krishna was the child of Vasudev and Devaki, and Devaki had a very mean brother named Kamsa. Kamsa was so mean that he put his own father in jail, just in order to take over the kingdom.
But mean though he was, Kamsa had a soft spot in his heart for his sister Devaki. So when she married Vasudev, Kamsa threw a big celebration for her, with a great feast, and afterward announced that he would drive the chariot himself to take the couple to their new home. While they were on their way there, however, a great voice suddenly spoke from the sky and said to Kamsa, "Beware! The eighth child of this couple will kill you."
Well, that, of course, freaked the brother completely! He was about to kill Devaki and Vasudev right on the spot, but they begged for their lives, and he finally relented. He said, OK, I won't kill you. But you'll have to agree to live in jail for the rest of your lives, and to give me all your children as soon as they're born.
What could they do? They agreed.
So Devaki and Vasudev were imprisoned, and their first seven children were taken away the minute they were born. The first six were killed by Kamsa; the seventh has a complicated story of his own, which we won't go into here.
When the time came for the eighth birth, Kamsa was especially wary. He put extra guards on duty at the prison, and he locked Vasudev and Devaki in chains. But as the time of the birth approached, the guards began to feel very sleepy, and they all dozed off. And then the baby was born. As he came out of the womb, the baby (who, of course, was Krishna) said, "Take me to Gokul, to Nanda's house, and there you will find a girl-child. Substitute me for that baby girl."
Vasudev said, "How can I take you to Gokul? The doors are locked, and I'm in chains." At that point, Vasudev's chains dropped away and the prison door flew open. Well, Vasudev felt that was a pretty clear message, so he took baby Krishna to Gokul and brought the baby girl back in his place. The guards woke up and saw the baby, and went to tell Kamsa. The wicked brother came to the cell, and thinking that the little girl was his sister's child, he grabbed the baby by her feet, planning to throw her to the floor. But as he touched her feet, she flew out of his hands and up into the sky. As she was going, she called back, "I would have killed you, but you touched my feet; and even though you did that intending to kill me, I will treat it as though you were honoring me and let you go this time." Then she disappeared up into heaven.


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One hundred kilometres south-east of Berlin there is a stretch of countryside that is unique in central Europe – Spree Forest, an area of wetlands that bears the influence of centuries of human influence yet still remains largely unspoilt.
The attraction of the Spree Forest lies in its park-like landscape traversed by numerous streams and rivers. The Spreewald is a man-dominated, largely unspoilt water meadows close to nature. Centuries of cultivation have produced a mosaic of meadows, fields and forest criss-crossed by a network of waterways covering more than a thousand kilometres. The resulting range of habitats are rich in animal and plant life, including species that in other places are either endangered or extinct, such as the otter, beaver and black stork. In 1990, in order to preserve this area, the Spree Forest was declared a biosphere reserve and received UNESCO recognition a year later. Historically, the Spree Forest was settled by the Slavic Sorb people (or Wends), whose customs and costumes remain a feature of the region. The forest villages, with their traditional log cabins and farm gardens, are particularly worth a visit. The Spree Forest biosphere reserve offers visitors ample opportunity to explore its unique culture and natural surroundings. Tours by bicycle, canoe or Spree Forest barge can be booked for one or more days and provide the ideal way to get to know the area and its people.
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Entrepreneurs are notorious for their commitment to working long hours to build their businesses. In 1989, when I turned my attention from corporate work to my own company, OFS, I was no exception.
OFS is also known as The Business Doctors, because we provide business process reengineering services to companies. Back then, it was consuming the bulk of my time and energy. I was working an average of 18 hours a day. A lot of our clients were located in the Caribbean, and flights from the West Coast are long and arduous.
Fortunately, I've engaged for years in a practice of self-reflection, asking trusted advisors to help me see myself as others do. In the early 1990s, their message was clear: I had been paying lip service to a desire for more free time, but my actions were indicating otherwise.
That, in turn, led to a change on my part: a commitment to incorporating balance into my life – and into the life of my company. It's a commitment that I would advise other entrepreneurs make as well. For contrary to the prevailing wisdom, I do not see a dichotomy between running a hard-nosed business—which OFS is—and being soft about the need to focus on other aspects of life.
In fact, when applied to employees as well as the entrepreneur, balance makes for a more committed staff and thus a more prosperous enterprise.
A Framework for Balance
Bringing balance to an entrepreneurial concern is a multi-faceted undertaking, and it is my intent in this article to walk you through the process.
That said, it is necessary first to underscore that achieving balance is, indeed, a process rather than a specific program. Just how it plays out is likely to be different in a start up than in a rapidly growing company or in an enterprise that has matured.
At OFS, the initial step for me was to acknowledge that balance was a value in my own life and worth the sacrifices I would have to make to implement this undertaking. Once I made a commitment that went beyond lip service, I set about structuring the various components of my life – work, family, and personal – into a framework through which I could consider the various commitments associated with each part and then set priorities.
In reality, of course, the work of my company had to get done; that was fundamental. However, by agreeing that, say, my niece's soccer game was also a necessary engagement for me to attend—because family is important—I could decide to fit the game around the project I needed to complete, even if I had to return to the office after the game to finish.
Of course, not all commitments can be honored. In other words, sometimes you have to give up something – but the something needn't always be family or personal.
Extending Balance
Having incorporated balance into my own life, the next step was for me to incorporate the philosophy into my company. At OFS, we always had set work hours, so I agreed to allow flexibility into the schedule.
A mother who needed to drop off a child at day care early in the morning, for example, could start—and end—her work day earlier than OFS's official hours. An employee training for a marathon could take time off in the middle of the day to run in the heat of the day and adjust the completion of certain projects accordingly.
Balance has also meant promoting activities outside of the office setting. Three years ago, OFS moved its headquarters to a building near a beach, a tennis club, and a health facility.
Though we needed to accept space with open, rather than individual, offices to get a price we could afford in that location, the tradeoff was worth it. To encourage healthy living, we are now able to allow our employees to go for walks at the beach during the lunch hour or before or after work. We engaged a personal trainer at the health facility with whom they can consult for individualized programs, and we initiated a practice of allowing staff to leave two hours early on Fridays during the summer.
In a related vein, we hold a summer beach party to which we invite our subcontractors and our professional support team of banker, attorney and insurance broker. It is a great way to get questions answered in a comfortable and non-threatening environment.
More With Less
The ability to bring balance into the lives of employees—and indeed, into the founder's life—at our entrepreneurial company has had a lot to do with technology.
At the heart of our tactical thinking is that these days it is possible to do more work in less time, thus freeing the excess for other spheres of life. One example has been the long-accepted process of our managers signing off individually on projects.
Utilizing our proprietary work-flow management and Supply Chain solution RequisitonNET that allows them to sign off simultaneously, we were able to shorten the cycle—and free up time. The solution was a matter of thinking creatively about old-fashioned processes that needed to be revisited and revised.
At OFS, we use computerized phone and Web conferencing to enable our people to attend equally to work and family commitments. Our chief technology officer was recently called to Hong Kong to care for his ailing father. We couldn't say no, you can't go. At the same time, we needed him to assist in the roll out of a major Supply Chain project for a key client. The solution: remote involvement. Thanks to Web conferencing, he was able to be physically at his father's side half a world away while managing the project for his employer.
In the decade that OFS has been living with the philosophy of balance, our company has thrived. Stress has been reduced and our staff is more effective, all of which enhances our ability to provide the utmost in quality service.
As for myself, I've come to realize that my time on this earth—indeed, my life—isn't the dress rehearsal. It's the real thing.
I work an average of 10 hours a day now, rather than the 18 I used to put in prior to my advisors' urging me to face the truth about myself. Work is no longer a continuous grind, but rather what it was always meant to be: a fulfilling aspect of a life that also includes family and self—indeed, even an entrepreneur's life.


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The School of Music offers two programs (fall semester only) to allow students to spend a semester as part of ICNYC: Music Immersion Program and Sound Recording Technology Program.
Both programs take place each fall and are open to all students in the School of Music. Through course offerings, attending professional concerts, practicing in rehearsal studios, shadowing studio professors, and being immersed in culture studying in NYC is an excellent way to explore what your future career could look like.
Visit the ICNYC Sound Recording Technology Program or the ICNYC Music Immersion Program pages to discover if studying in New York City is right for you.


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Hospitals seeing ice-related injuries
The cold and snow can be dangerous in many ways. Slips on the ice are causing everything from minor cuts to collapsed lungs.
Winter hit Milwaukee hard Monday with temperatures below zero. People were bundled up and watching out for icy sidewalks.
"Worry like crazy about the ice. I don't come out much in the winter time," Francina Price said.
VIDEO: Doctors warn of ice dangers
Icy conditions have already brought dozens of patients into Milwaukee's busiest emergency room. Doctors and nurses at St. Luke's said they had 10 cases of broken bones Monday.
"Patients not noticing that there's ice outside, slipping on stairs, slipping on driveways, getting out of cars," said Dr. Tom Rudek, an emergency room physician.
Rudek said the injuries range from minor cuts to head wounds that require hospitalization.
Falls on the ice have also left some people with collapsed lungs.
Rudek pushes stronger awareness when you're out.
"Most of the patients are coming in, they just don't realize there is ice out there and they just fall," Rudek said.
Milwaukeeans WISN 12 News reporter Max Seigle talked to said they will keep watching out for the ice because the hospital is the last place they want to be, especially now.
"You'd rather not be dealing with the ER during the holidays," Brian Schaning said.


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TG3204 : Trees growing beside a drainage ditch
taken 4 years ago, near to Rockland st Mary, Norfolk, Great Britain
In 2014, the development and management of the Hellington and Rockland St Mary Community Reserve, comprising the eastern end of Hellington Low Common, was taken on by a community trust "for the benefit of the inhabitants and those interested in Hellington and Rockland St Mary, without distinction of gender, sexual orientation, race or political, religious or other opinions". The land is owned by the Parochial Church Council, with the rent being paid from stakeholders' subscriptions.
The reserve is a designated county wildlife site and covers 6.6 acres of ground which is traversed by the Hellington Beck. With the help of local volunteers and supported by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the Parish and South Norfolk District Councils, the trust aims to manage the condition of the reserve and to create a healthy environment for diverse species of flora and fauna to flourish, and to educate visitors of all ages, with the objectives of improving the condition of the reserve and providing opportunities to enjoy the countryside.
On the sandy area of grassland to the south of the beck Dove's-foot crane's bill (Geranium molle) > Link , Common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) > Link and Spring beauty (Claytonia perfoliata) > Link can be seen; Common reed (Phragmites australis), Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) , Water mint ((Mentha aquatica) > Link and Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) grow on the lower marshy ground north of the beck. Beside the path Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) > Link , Primrose (Primular vulgaris) > Link and Dog violet (viola riviniana) > Link can be found. Red campion (Silene dioica) > Link , Wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) > Link and Greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) > Link grow on the bank of the beck which is populated by clusters of Watercress ((Nasturtium officinale) > Link. 600 native hedge plants, shrubs and trees have also been planted.
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- Grid Square
- TG3204, 420 images (more nearby )
- Photographer
- Evelyn Simak (find more nearby)
- Date Taken
- Tuesday, 10 January, 2017 (more nearby)
- Submitted
- Tuesday, 10 January, 2017
- Geographical Context
- Subject Location
OSGB36: TG 3225 0402 [10m precision]
- Camera Location
- View Direction
- East-northeast (about 67 degrees)


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Enter 650B – The Correct Wheel for the Bike.
When it comes to mountain bike wheel size it is difficult to see the big picture and how it all fits together. The world has been using 26″ wheels for so long that the adoption of 29″ took much longer than expected; and there are still nay-sayers on any alternative to 26″.
When it came to redesigning the 2013 Norco range it was not about building a bike around a certain wheel, but rather building a bike that is the best performing machine possible in its intended use. Wheel size came later.
Starting conceptually on a whiteboard the Range is a bike that pedals extremely well on the way up, handles the bumps on the way down and can excel pretty much anywhere in between. This is the ultimate all mountain machine. In order to make this vision a reality there were a few key aspects of design that needed to happen.
To make the Range perfect, Gravity Tune needed to be utilized. Creating a unique geometry that varies with the size of the bike can guarantee a frame that fits a rider of any height. Frame stiffness is also important. Adding a Sytace X-12 Axle, hollowform linkarm, tapered headtube and an uber-stiff tubeset helps keep it all together. Choosing the perfect geometry was also crucial as well as the integration of A.R.T. Suspension to propel the rider up the climbs while soaking up every last bump on the decent.
Taking fit, stiffness, geometry and suspension together as a whole package left a problem. Stiffness and maneuverability could not be achieved using 29″ wheels and the 26″ wheel would not have the rolling capabilities necessary to truly make this bike shine. Enter 650B.
With a 650B wheel, the XS frame can use the perfect chanstay length for the rider while the XL can accomplish the same ride characteristics in a larger sized frame. The 27.5″ wheel also gave the rolling characteristics we desired while not sacrificing our goals in strength, stiffness or an extremely long wheelbase.
Rather than rambling on for too long about this newly designed bike, we have a video for you to enjoy about the making, testing and production of the New 2013 Norco Range. Watch for more information on this and other 2013 models very soon.
Team H&R Block's Summer Update
Team H&R Block has had a fantastic season so far this year. The group of racers has been traveling around North America showing off why they are such a great team. It has been a busy season and here are some of the recent top results.
The Banff Bike Fest, Alberta (Stage Race) – wrapped up a perfect West Coast Tour record with Aaron Schooler taking the overall win. Kris Dahl had two stage wins that resulted in him leading the event going into the final stage. Aaron was able to take the pressure off of Kris by getting into the winning move on the final road stage. This gave Aaron the lead while the other general classification riders were waiting for Kris to make a move. Craig Jones was the third member of the team at this tour and rode a strong supportive roll as they fought off other competing teams that had 5-8 members. Congrats to Aaron, Chris and Craig for bringing home the overall win for the team!
Tour de Beauce Stage Race, Quebec – was led by guest Team Director, Mark Walters who is a past US Pro Champion in 2002 and a 5-time Canadian Champion (elite road race in 1998 and 2001). Mark was a natural fit for this tour because he is a past winner of 2 stages and spent three days in yellow in the 2007 Tour de Beauce. As the team continues to grow, we will utilize the expertise of former Canadian riders like Mark to provide mentoring, leadership to all our riders. In return, this will help with the team's maturity and growth as athletes work their way to turning Pro. Walters said, "This was a great experience and I look forward to the opportunity again next year". At the tour, the team had its highest general classification finish with Rob Britton coming in 10th. During the last stage, Rob along with riders like Sebastian Salas (former H&R Block rider who is now racing professionally), established a lead that put them as virtual leaders on the road. However, they were brought back as the big teams were looking to keep their top GC riders on the podium. This is what racing is all about and we are really happy with how Rob challenged the top riders for the win.
Canadian National Road Championships – After some hard fought tours, the team came together for one of the biggest events of the season. There was minimal time to recover between these tours but were exciting to race for the opportunity to become National Champion. The team lived together during this event which allowed them to relax and focus on getting ready for the races.
The Individual Time Trial (ITT) was the first race of the Championships. It was a very hot day (38*C) that required the riders to warm up diligently. We would like to thank Team BC for allowing the team to share space with them under their canopies, as shade was a premium commodity that day. Jordan Cheyne had the team's best result that day coming in 4th in the Under 23 category.
Men's Elite Road Race – was next and the team fought a tough hard as they climbed Mt. Megantic seven times. Rob Britton made two very good moves, the first was to establish the winning break before even getting to the base of the first climb. The second great move was when he made an attack up the last climb, just before the chase group could catch him. He rode all day in the break with four SpiderTech (professional riders) and Marsh Cooper, Optum p/b Kelly Benefits/Strategy (professional rider). The break had up to a 6min lead on the chase group which was made up of many World Tour professional riders. The chase group raced hard and resulted in the gap coming down to just under one minute going into the last climb. As Rob attacked to keep the pressure on, the only two riders that were then able to cross over were Micheal Barry, Team Sky Pro Cycling and Sebastian Salas, Optum p/b Kelly Benefits Strategy. Over the last 50km, Micheal Barry made multiple attacks that resulted in the lead group splintering.
Rob was able to hang on for a fantastic 5th place finish after riding at the front of the race for the entire day. Along with this performance, Mike Sidic, Garrett McLeod and Aaron Schooler rode very well as they stayed with the main group over the final climb. Rob's 5th place finish was the best Canadian Road National result that the team has had to date.
Lots of fun on 2 wheels
You may have heard me rambling on about training this spring for an event in July. Well, time flies and that event date finally rolled up. With no time to cram any additional training into my busy schedule meant that I was as ready as I was going to get, so now go ride. The event I had been training for all spring was the Cascade Bike Club's STP or Seattle To Portland ride. This event has been around for more than 30 years, and is one of the biggest one and two day events anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.
Our ride group consisted of 2 Norco staff, one of our Seattle retailers and 4 friends, but at times our pace-line would have another 10-20 riders tagging along enjoying the nice consistent pull. At any time during our event, there were riders up ahead of us as far as we could see… and as far back behind us too. It was really cool to ride with that many riders in such an event.
The STP took all 10,000 preregistered riders on a beautiful meandering relatively traffic free route south along Lake Washington, down through Kent, Spanaway, and zig-zagged along many kms of beautiful country roads before stopping in at Centralia for a major ½ way stop (the overnight stop for 2 day riders).
After a complete freshen up and change of clothes our group continued south through Winlock, Kelso then Longview, and over the grand bridge into Oregon. Now on the "home stretch" or last 90 kms, we followed the Columbia River through Rainer, St Helens Burlington and finally ended our 14 hour day at Holiday Park right in Portland.
The STP is officially measured at 204 miles, or more than 320 kms but by the time we added in our ride from our hotel in Seattle to the start line at 4:30 am, and back to our hotel in Portland after the finish line, my Sigma computer showed 345 kms total distance, in just under 12 hours of riding time. Yes, that put us at over 2 hours of stopped or pit area time but our rolling average was still high 28's, pretty good for a bunch of desk jockeys. Yes, it was one BIG day in the saddle. BUT FUN !!! If you ever have the opportunity, check this event out. I'd recommend it to anyone. The organization was awesome… nice work Cascade Bike Club!! I'll be back.
As if July wasn't busy enough, we also had our 2013 Norco Bicycles Product Launch for Distributors, Dealers and our sales reps. This year was so great with 3 days of sunny skies, and some great riding including an urban ride down around the Sea Wall and Stanley Park, and road and mountain bike rides on the North Shore. I believe elsewhere in this e-news there will be some teasers of the new '13 model year bikes… check em out.
So now jumping ahead to August. Kokanee Crankworx Festival (probably one of the world's biggest and best mountain bike events) is just around the corner, then right after that I'll be out on the bike course with neutral tech support at Ironman Canada event, helping keep those athletes moving towards the finish line and completing their huge challenge and goal. Finally after that things should calm down a bit – well that is for a few weeks then we will be off to Interbike down in Las Vegas. So, it is starting to seem like the bike season is just like painting a bridge… we are almost across and will be starting at the other end again –on the "bridge" or a whole new season of bikes again soon.
So now with us getting into August, there is still lots of summer left. I hope that you can get out on your bike and really enjoy the warm sunny skies and nice long days. If it has 2 wheels, you know it will make you smile. I know it does for me… See you out there. Steak Sauce
Source: Norco News


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The mounting U.S. debt and rising deficits that will continue under a proposed Republican budget blueprint may trigger critical votes in Congress to hold off on repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Such a scenario emerged this week when U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said he wouldn't vote for a budget that increased the federal debt even if it included a repeal of the ACA. Paul is a critical vote among the GOP's 52-member caucus in the Senate, which needs 51 votes to pass a budget that would conceivably include a repeal of the ACA. Democrats are unified in their opposition to a repeal.
A budget resolution the Senate approved this week without Paul's support is a blueprint that would lead to another nearly $9 trillion to the federal debt, which already stands at about $20 trillion.
"I won't vote for a terrible budget just to repeal Obamacare," GOP Sen. Paul told MSNBC's Morning Joe program on Wednesday. "If I have to weigh the two problems, I actually think the debt is a more important problem than Obamacare."
"Everybody's hot and heavy to vote on this budget because they want to repeal Obamacare, but the budget Republicans are going to introduce will add $8.8 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years," Paul added.
Getting rid of Obamacare will add more to the debt and deficits. A new report from the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that "repealing the ACA in its entirety would cost roughly $350 billion through 2027."
Inside Obamacare: The Fix For America's Ailing Health Care System explores the ways the Affordable Care Act will impact your health care.
While many of Obamacare's problems are focused on rising premiums from private individual coverage offered on exchanges, the law also includes myriad reforms that have slowed the growth of spending, particularly in the Medicare health insurance program for seniors.
The ACA's Medicare reforms have shifted away from fee-for-service medicine that pays doctors and hospitals no matter how patient care turns out to value-based models that reimburse providers based on outcomes and quality measures. Insurers in the Medicare program like Aetna AET -0.20%, UnitedHealth Group UNH +0.14%, Humana HUM +0.50% and others are rated via a star system created by the ACA that many believe has spurred more competition.
Though Republican Senators this week voted to proceed with the budget blueprint, some of them have said they don't want to proceed with an Obamacare repeal without having a replacement that would continue to cover more than 20 million Americans who have gained benefits since the law was enacted in 2010.


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PLEASANT HILL (CBS SF) — A Lafayette man has been convicted of multiple counts of child molestation for lewd and lascivious acts on two girls in Pleasant Hill, a Contra Costa County prosecutor said Wednesday.
A jury on Monday found Antonio Maxfield, 29, guilty of two counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child aged 14 or 15 and two counts of lewd and lascivious acts against a child under 14 years old, in addition to enhancements for victimizing multiple people and for substantial sexual conduct, according to Deputy District Attorney Christine Hazlehurst.
Maxfield faces at least three years in state prison and a maximum sentence of 12 years, Hazlehurst said.
During the trial, the jury heard from two victims, who were 15 and 12 years old when they were molested, Hazlehurst said.
Jurors also heard text messages that Maxfield sent to one of the victims.
He was living with the girl's family in Pleasant Hill at the time of the molestation, according to Hazlehurst.
Trained in massage therapy with a diploma from the National Holistic Institute in Emeryville, Maxfield offered to massage both victims, the prosecutor said.
In one incident, a massage led to him digitally penetrating a girl, while in another, he touched the girl's genitals.
Prosecutors found that the defendant had apparently never been employed as a massage therapist.
Hazlehurst said the National Holistic Institute was "pretty appalled by what happened" and aided in the criminal investigation.
Maxfield is set to return to court in Martinez for sentencing on Sept. 19.
© Copyright 2014 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Robert Aldern, Professor Emeritus of Art, Dies at 82
Robert Aldern, professor emeritus of Art and former department chair and Artist-in-Residence, died on Saturday, June 11. He was 82.
A memorial service was held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 18, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church.
Aldern served Augustana as a member of the Faculty from 1980 until 1991. After his retirement, he continued to be involved with the College as Professor Emeritus of Art and Artist-in-Residence, working to make arts-related initiatives such as the Hovland Center for Liturgical Arts a reality. Examples of his work include the reredos in Augustana's Chapel of Reconciliation and the Triptych at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, among many others.
Prior to joining Augustana, Aldern served as Professor of Art and Chair of the Art Department at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Before that, he was South Dakota State University's Artist-in-Residence. He also served as Artistic Consultant to Catholic Diocese of Eastern South Dakota from 1964 to 1966 and was director of the Sioux Falls Civic Fine Arts Center from 1961 to 1964.
You are invited...
Tribute Reception for Robert Aldern on Friday, July 8 from 5-8 p.m. at Eastbank Gallery (8th & Railroad Center, Sioux Falls)
Artwork by Robert Aldern — A Tribute to a South Dakota Original (Display continues through Friday, July 15)
Among his many honors, he received the Augustana Alumni Achievement Award in 1977; the Governor's Award in the Arts for Distinction in Creative Achievement in 1997; and the Mayor's Award for Achievement in the Arts in 2000.
Dr. Lindsay Twa, assistant professor of Art and director of the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery, spoke about Aldern's accomplishments and contributions earlier this year during Augustana's "Heritage and Hope" lecture series:
"Robert Aldern ... was influenced by the two founding lions of the department, Palmer Eide and Ogden Dalrymple. Bob observed each artist balancing their teaching loads with their personal studio practices and the execution of public commissions in a range of media. Their art, while showing an awareness of modernist trends occurring in New York City, was ardently never just art for its own sake. Art was to be situated and incorporated within the artist's own community. This is a legacy that guides the Art Department to this day—and is one of its greatest strengths."
"He had the good fortune of beginning his art career in the 1950s at the same time that liturgical art was being reinvigorated in the United States. The growing liturgical arts movement sought to reconnect modern art and architecture to liturgical function, viewing it as a form of visual theology: the liturgy was art and art could be an intrinsic component of the liturgy. Numerous congregations, generations of worshippers and countless visitors who have experienced Aldern's work in situ have benefitted from this confluence that resulted in nearly a half century's worth of work. And we are incredibly fortunate to experience this expansive vision at every worship service [in the Chapel of Reconciliation]."
"We could say that retirement is the only thing that he has failed at in his life. And this, too, seems to be a part of the Augustana heritage. Our community is sustained by many former faculty and staff who continue to help out in countless large and small ways into their twilight years because they continue to be passionate about making this place as great as it is."
"Bob Aldern [was] a guiding light for the art department and Augustana College; an emblematic of a future that always drew strength from the past, and of a past that is always generative of future endeavors. [His own words], an artist statement that is also poetry, which he wrote in 1991, [said it best]:"
"I want my paintings to seed my remaining seasons.
Through the textural changes of plowing, harrowing, planting, cultivating;
Growing to blossom
And yielding to harvest
To be disked and plowed again
For freezing snow and wind.
Now, resting is the time
For a gathering, scar soaked earth
Later carrying seeds to birth."
Aldern received his BFA from Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, Hartford, Conn., and his bachelor's degree from Augustana. He also spent a summer in training with famed artist Jean Charlot.
Kelly Sprecher
Director of Communications & Media Relations


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Availability: In stock


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If it is the end of the world as we know it, then the local bars feel fine as they play on the (somewhat) made-up fantasies about the end of the world to turn a little profit.
If it is the end of the world as we know it, then the local bars feel fine as they play on the (somewhat) made-up fantasies about the end of the world to turn a little profit.
At least a half-dozen bars and restaurants in Monroe County are holding "End of the World" parties tonight, celebrating the theory that the world will end sometime today.
Not that any of them really believe it, but there's no reason to not make some money off it in the name of fun.
"Who wouldn't want to celebrate the end of the world with a bunch of friends?" said Maureen Melograno, owner of Melograno's Pine Hollow on Route 390 in Canadensis. "The people at Pine Hollow are like a family, so we're going to make it a fun night."
For those who somehow have managed to avoid the news, the calendar of the ancient Mayan civilization ends on Dec. 21, 2012.
That has left scholars to believe the Mayans predicted the world would end that date, which just happens to be today.
Local watering holes are looking to go out in style with themed parties hoping Saturday actually comes.
"We're an Irish tavern, so we're always looking for something to celebrate," joked Jamie Burke of the recently renovated Burke's Tavern on Route 611 in Mount Pocono. "There's tragedy happening all over the world. Up on the mountain, we like to keep it pretty positive. We wanted to jump on this opportunity to celebrate."
For Whisper's Lounge on West Main Street in Stroudsburg inside the Quality Inn, it's a chance to show off the new look of the bar. It had been closed for months, but reopened in the fall under new ownership.
The previous incarnation of Whisper's had a rough reputation because of incidents that happened there, but manager Jennifer O'Neill of Bushkill said those days are over.
Its end of the world party — which doubles as a potluck, covered-dish Christmas party — is a chance to show that off.
"We're trying to re-create the business," she said. "We want to give the feel that we're just a regular bar. Having something like this, it gives the local people the feeling that we're just regular, funny people."
Other bars having end of the world parties include Jock N' Jills/Grace O'Malley's and Siamsa, both on Main Street in Stroudsburg, and Panda's Pub and Sports Bar inside Four Seasons Restaurant and Diner on Route 209 in Marshalls Creek.


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Kodak EasyShare Z980 Review
- 720p HD Video
- Manual Controls
- High ISO noise
- Large size
- Battery life
Back in the late '60s I carried a Kodak Instamatic camera with me to drag races at tracks across southern California, snapping photos of cars and drivers in the pits. In 1975 I graduated to a Nikon F2, with Kodak remaining almost exclusively my film of choice. I haven't shot a roll of film in eight or nine years, but another Kodak camera has found its way into my hands, if only for review purposes.
The Kodak EasyShare Z980 is Kodak's current big gun in the ultrazoom compact digital class, boasting a 24x optical zoom and 12 megapixel sensor. Kodak is quick to point out that the 12 megapixel sensor of the Z980 means "you can crop and enlarge and still have great picture quality". Here's an original shot and then the same shot cropped to 12 x 8 inch size – the cropped shot still maintains 220 pixels per inch, which is enough to provide a pretty decent print.
There's also the ability to make 720p HD video, full manual controls in addition to the obligatory automatic and scene settings, ISO sensitivity ranging to 1600 at full resolution (and 6400 at 3.1MB), plus a RAW file shooting option. Kodak's come a long ways from my old Instamatic; let's see just how far.
The Z980 is carved out of the current mold for ultrazooms, resembling a slightly scaled-down DSLR in feel, if not weight. This is the largest ultrazoom dimensionally that I've tested, and it compares rather closely size-wise to the Olympus E-420 DSLR.
The body exterior is composite, and while the camera appears well-built, there is a shiny black plastic panel that wraps around one side of the camera, surrounds the monitor and literally screams "fragile looking". I would think Kodak knows what they're doing with this piece functionally, but the shiny plastic conveys a toy-like impression from an otherwise business-like instrument.
Ergonomics and Controls
The Z980 features a deeply sculpted handgrip on the camera body, and there is good room for the fingers between the grip and the lens barrel. The rubberized material in the grip area is a cut above most other ultrazooms I've tested, providing a bit firmer hold than most others.
The right index finger falls naturally onto the shutter button and the thumb to the thumb rest area on the camera back without conflict with controls. While the camera back and top are adorned with buttons, there is adequate spacing to minimize accidental activations.
While I'm not a video guy, I have gotten spoiled reviewing cameras that allow you to start shooting video with the press of a single button. Unfortunately, the Z980 isn't one of these – you have to select the video setting via the mode dial and then do a full press on the shutter to capture movies.
The Z980 provides shutter buttons on the top and right side of the camera body, with the latter simplifying shooting in the vertical (portrait) format. You have to select which button is active via a switch on the top of the body, and Kodak has thoughtfully provided an easily attached vertical grip to promote a more secure hold when shooting verticals.
The vertical grip is light and performs no other function, but it also improves the horizontal grip, allowing my little finger to grip the front of the camera rather than curl up under the body. The grip adds about an inch to the height of the camera, but unless you need to keep the Z980's dimensions in check, I'd install the grip and leave it on.
Make sure you attach the lens cap to the camera via the provided cord or the first time you forget to remove the cap and power up the camera with it in place, the extending lens will launch the cap into space.
Menus and Modes
This being my first review of a Kodak product, the menu system wasn't at all familiar but a fair amount of settings were located intuitively. Kodak provides a bare-bones user's guide with the Z980, running only some 25 pages and dealing with only the simplest of functions.
Of course, they do provide Spanish, French, and Portuguese versions to ponder while looking unsuccessfully for the information on how to change the camera's ISO setting. Hint: it isn't in the user's manual – you have to go to the online extended user's manual for that. Personally, I'd like to see Kodak flesh out the printed manual with info for the folks who aren't going to merely set the camera on auto and fire away.
"Smart Capture" is the Z980's auto setting, and it incorporates "intelligent scene detection" to analyze scene conditions; "intelligent scene capture" to set focus, exposure and ISO; and "intelligent image processing" to reduce noise and clear up shadows. For those of us who think we might know better than the camera, there are the typical manual controls found on DSLRs and more advanced compacts: program auto, aperture and shutter priority, and fully manual exposure options.
Smart Capture, the manual controls, portrait, sport, panorama (stitch-assist), and video shooting modes are selected via the mode dial atop the camera body; there is also a scene mode accessed on the dial that offers the user 16 additional shooting options via internal menu: children, backlight, high ISO, beach, snow, sunset, self portrait, night portrait, candlelight, night landscape, landscape, museum, stage, fireworks, flower, and text.
In addition to the icon for each individual mode in the scene menu, the Z980 also presents a brief explanation of each option as you select it.
The Z980 boasts a 3.0 inch LCD monitor with 201,000 dot composition and five levels of brightness adjustment.
Even with that range of adjustment, the monitor can be difficult to use for image composition in bright sunlight, although the size helps some. Thankfully, there is also a viewfinder for those difficult lightning conditions, but there is no diopter for eyesight adjustment.
The viewfinder offers good eye relief and I had no trouble using my reading glasses with it, although that's not my favorite way to shoot. The alternative is to gaze through the blurry viewfinder until the green focus icon appears along with a "beep" to let you know the camera says the focus is a go. Kodak doesn't specify in the user's manual or online, but monitor and viewfinder appear to offer around 95% coverage – they're both fairly accurate in depicting what the final image will contain.
It's no secret ultrazooms are my favorite point-and-shoots, offering the user a wide range of lens focal lengths in an amazingly small package. Throw in a good shutter response, decent AF acquisition time and image quality and you've got a versatile tool that can shoot everything from wide angle scenes or close ups of really big subjects to bringing distant objects much closer. The Z980 has that lens focal range in spades – let's see how the rest of the parameters measure up.
Shooting Performance
The Z980 didn't disappoint in the shutter lag arena, coming up with a 0.02 second press to capture time. This time seems to lengthen a tiny bit with flash enabled, but it's still quite good. AF acquisition time at wide angle in good light is a fairly quick 0.6 seconds and stays that way as the lens zooms a good way toward the telephoto end.
Shutter Lag (press-to-capture, pre-focused)
|Time (seconds)
|Casio Exilim EX-FH20
|Kodak EasyShare Z980
|Olympus SP-565 UZ
|Canon PowerShot SX200 IS
|Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3
AF Acquisition (press-to-capture, no pre-focus)
|Time (seconds)
|Canon PowerShot SX200 IS
|Casio Exilim EX-FH20
|Kodak EasyShare Z980
|Olympus SP-565 UZ
|Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3
Continuous Shooting
|Casio Exilim EX-FH20
|30 fps†
|Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3
|2.5 fps
|Kodak EasyShare Z980
|1.3 fps
|Olympus SP-565 UZ
|1.2 fps
|Canon PowerShot SX200 IS
|0.9 fps
* Note: Continuous shooting framerates are based on the camera's fastest full-resolution JPEG continuous shooting mode, using the fastest media type available (300x CF, SDHC, etc.). "Frames" notes the number of captures recorded per burst before the camera stops/slows to clear the buffer.
† Note: The Casio Exilim FH20 has no continuous shooting capabilities at full resolution (9 megapixels). It is, however, capable of shooting at 30 fps at a slightly reduced 8 megapixels. Given this relatively high resolution, we have included the FH20's continuous shooting numbers in our comparison.
AF performance at full telephoto is better in the auto modes where the camera determines the focus point – using the center point AF to try and precisely establish a focus point with the manual shooting modes could at times be frustrating with regard to the time it took to acquire focus. Even so, the AF acquisition times overall seem to fall within the norm for most cameras in this class. There is a focus-assist lamp to help with AF in dim conditions. Press to capture time with no pre-focus runs about 0.6 seconds.
The shutter button on the Z980 took a little getting used to – there is not much resistance at the half-push point, and when I first shot the camera there was more than one occasion where I pushed right past half and took a shot before the AF had time to work. Once you get a feel for the shutter there is no concern with its operation.
While shutter lag and focus acquisition times are good, the Z980 doesn't power up as quickly as the best in the class – it takes almost 2 seconds for an image to appear on either the monitor or viewfinder, and about 2.75 seconds to get off the first shot after powering up. Kodak claims a shot-to-shot time of about 1.5 seconds and I came pretty close to that figure. I also managed 5 shots in 4 seconds in continuous shooting mode at full resolution (Kodak claims 1 fps, and we saw slightly better numbers than that in our lab tests) and 9 in 1.5 seconds in high speed mode at 3.1 megapixel file size (Kodak claims 5 fps).
Flash range on the Z980 was good, going out some twenty feet at wide angle and ISO 400, and there is a hot shoe to permit the addition of a more powerful external flash if the user so desires. Flash recycle times in normally lit conditions and shorter ranges not requiring a full discharge ran about 3.5 seconds with new batteries. Full discharges with new batteries took over 9 seconds to recycle, but unlike many cameras, the Z980 will allow you to shoot again with flash enabled before the flash is fully charged – the flash simply doesn't fire in such cases. Color quality and exposure was good with the flash. Here are shots of Bobby and Charlie caught with flash.
Kodak claims a 400 shot battery life with its provided 2100mAh Ni-MH AA batteries, but I fell short of that figure (perhaps from burning so much time hunting through menus on the monitor because the user guide is so limited). I'd recommend at least one extra set of batteries for an all day shoot (more if you make extensive use of flash or monitor), but at least if you do run out of power AAs are relatively easy to come by.
Lens Performance
The Z980 features a Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 24x zoom lens spanning the 26-624mm (equivalent) focal length range. Ever heard of Schneider-Kreuznach? Me neither, but the Schneider name may be familiar to those with an interest in high-end and vintage optics, especially. Turns out the company was founded in 1913 and has a history of partnering with Kodak on projects. Here's what those focal lengths take in:
Aside from the already mentioned focal length range, the lens on the Z980 offers maximum apertures of f/2.8 at wide angle and f/5 at telephoto, giving it fast to pretty decent speed across the board. There is some barrel distortion (straight lines bow out from center of image) at the wide end and a bit of pin cushion (straight lines bow in toward center of image) at telephoto. Edges and corners are a bit soft and there can be some chromatic aberration (purple fringing) in high contrast boundary areas.
Telephoto pincushion distortion
Overall the lens doesn't do too badly, and when it's good it's very good. But on occasion it did throw me a curve that I can't explain. Here are two shots of Tigr II – the first somewhat backlit and the second in the same spot but with flash enabled. There's a whole bunch of purple in the first, while the second looks good.
And then here's a couple of other good ones:
The purple colors in the shot sort of resemble fringing, although that typically is seen along edges in high contrast areas, so whatever caused this may not be the fault of the lens. I got a similar result in a shot of a tree with blue sky in the background – a large purple blotch on a limb (but relatively subdued fringing elsewhere).
Suffice it to say the effect was limited to about six shots out of over 500 and doesn't appear to be a major concern, but how it was produced remains a puzzle to me. The one common thread seems to be a brighter background and/or significant light coming from behind the subject.
Kodak identifies the stabilization for the Z980 as "optical", which traditionally means the shifting of lens elements. Stabilization is on by default but may be disabled via internal menu.
Video Quality
The Z980 can capture video at 1280×720, 640×480 or 320×240 modes, all at 30 fps. Quality at 720p is OK, but not what I'd call great, as is the audio. The camera can shoot up to 29 minutes of continuous 720p video (memory card permitting), or 80 minutes at the lower resolution modes with sufficient memory. The long lens of the Z980 makes it tempting to bring distant objects in close, but hand holding the camera steady at the telephoto end is no easy task for either video or stills and a tripod or some other form of support or bracing for the camera is a good idea if you plan to be at the telephoto end of the spectrum a lot.
Image Quality
In general, the Z980 produced nice quality images with accurate and pleasing color at the default settings. There are low, natural and high color settings (also sepia and B&W) available in the manual shooting modes, as well as low, normal and high contrast. Normal is the default in each case. There are also soft, normal and sharp sharpness settings, with normal once again the default.
High Color
Auto white balance is the default and did a pretty good job of color rendition, even with tungsten lighting, which was a bit warm but closer to accurate color than many other cameras. There are tungsten, daylight, fluorescent and open shade settings as well.
Auto White Balance, 3200K incandescent light
Exposure was generally pretty good with the default multi pattern metering, but there are center-weighted and spot options on tap should you feel the need. Multi pattern would lose some highlights on occasion when dealing with somewhat contrasty scenes, but was fairly typical for cameras of this class.
Noise performance was not the Z980's strongest point. Cropped images looked pretty good and quite similar at ISO 64 and 100, but the image quality falloff between 100 and 200 was more significant than we're used to.
ISO 64, 100% Crop
ISO 100, 100% Crop
ISO 200, 100% Crop
ISO 400, 100% Crop
ISO 800, 100% Crop
ISO 1600, 100% Crop
There's a noticeable difference in the crops between 200 and 400, and 800 shows a dramatic deterioration over 400. ISO 1600 is predictably worse than 800 by a good margin, and the 3200 and 6400 3.1 megapixel low res options (which we didn't shoot in the studio) are best saved for settings of last resort if image quality is a concern. As is typically the case, the full frame shots viewed at small size don't look too bad across the entire range.
The somewhat narrow band of ISO sensitivities that produce the best quality images is one reason to shoot the manual modes where ISO can be user established. In the auto modes the camera will set an ISO sensitivity between 64 and 1600 depending on a number of factors, while for best quality we really need to shoot the Z980 at ISO 64 or 100- if our final output is to be prints of any significant size. Manual settings or flash enabled (to help hold down the ISO) is the best way to go for consistent results with this camera.
Additional Sample Images
It's been decades since I've shot a Kodak camera, but with the feature-rich Z980 Kodak has produced a viable contender in the ultrazoom compact digital class. Image quality and color fidelity are generally good, and shutter lag is first-rate. AF acquisition times are good at wide angle, and competitive with others in the field at the telephoto end. There's HD video to be had, full manual controls to accompany the usual automatic shooting modes, and a RAW capability that most direct competitors lack. The horizontal and vertical shutter buttons are a nice touch.
Noise performance doesn't quite keep up with the competition starting at ISO 200, somewhat limiting the camera's "sweet spot" with regard to the best quality ISO range. Battery life is relatively short, particularly with pronounced flash and/or monitor use, and flash recycle times with near or full discharges can approach ten seconds. AF acquisition can be somewhat petulant at full telephoto, although probably within class norms. As the largest ultrazoom I've tested, the Z980 approaches small DSLRs in size, particularly with the vertical grip installed.
My old Instamatic is long gone, but it's clear Kodak hasn't been sitting on their laurels – the Z980 may not be a perfect camera, but it's certainly worthy of a good look from anyone considering an ultrazoom as their first or next digital.
- Good image and color quality
- Good shutter response
- 720p HD video
- Manual controls
- ISO noise performance
- Size
- Battery life


text: JoSH! Yes!!!! JoSH the band is here, playing at Harbour front this Saturday, 5th July at 9:30 . JoSH is a Canadian Indo-Pakistani which has enjoyed world wide success. They have also worked with Nelly Furtado, on songs such as "Powerless" and "Maneater". Some of their popular songs are "Josh naal pao bhangra" and "Aye Mausam". I am sure it's going to be a BLAST! See you there.


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So what's the real retirement age these days? Is it 65? 70? Just how many 80-year-olds are actually working?
"Americans are starting to recognize that living longer will require a shift in retirement planning. For many Americans surveyed, 70 is the new 65," Swiss Re's North American head of longevity, George Graziani, said in a statement on Monday, which marked the start of National Save for Retirement Week.
For those familiar with Americans' lack of retirement preparedness (the average 401(k) balance is somewhere around $80,000, according to Fidelity Investments), Graziani's statement sounds perfectly plausible. Yet UBS just released a new report saying that 80 is the new 60, while the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) warns that while the age at which workers expect to retire is slowly rising, the reality is that they may not be able to due to health problems or job loss.
The takeaway seems to be that age is just a number and a moving target because traditional views of retirement are changing.
The Swiss Re risk perception survey shows that the majority of Americans believe they'll be working well into the years that have traditionally been viewed as retirement years. The survey shows than 57% of Americans workers expect to work beyond age 65 or never retire.
And 19% of U.S. respondents, more than in any other nation surveyed, said they would be working at least until 70, while 12% believe they never will be in a position to retire. The remainder, 21%, didn't know or couldn't answer when they believe that their working lives will end.
Compare those numbers to respondents in other nations surveyed, where 38% of workers globally think they'll retire by age 64 compared with just 22% of Americans. In China, Hong Kong and Brazil, survey respondents were most optimistic about their financial prospects for their retirement years, with 78%, 45% and 42% of respondents, respectively, saying they will retire before 64.
Conducted in partnership with global polling firm The Gallup Organization Europe, the survey canvassed nearly 22,000 citizens 15 and older across 19 markets in April and May.
The UBS Investor Watch report, meanwhile, revealed that most wealthy investors today say they don't expect to feel "old" until they reach age 80 — a vast change from their parents' generation, which viewed age 60 as old.
Even the concept of retirement has undergone a transformation, with the UBS report finding that only 16% consider retirement as a sign of being old. More importantly, Americans define old as the loss of individual independence, marked by no longer living in one's own home, at 71%, and by losing the ability to drive one's own car, at 67%.
"People do not see retirement as a sign of being old, as it was for their parents," said Emily Pachuta, head of investor insights, UBS Wealth Management Americas, in a statement. "What we're hearing from people is that age is nothing more than a number and the age when people feel old has gone way up."
On Sept. 12, EBRI also released a report on the expected retirement age, saying that the age at which workers expect to retire is slowly rising. "In 1991, just 11% of workers expected to retire after age 65. Twenty-one years later, in 2012, 37% of workers report they expect to wait until after age 65 to retire. At the same time, the percentage of workers expecting to retire before age 65 has decreased from 50% in 1991 to 24%," EBRI reported.
But here's the rub: expectations don't always match reality. EBRI goes on to report that "a sizable proportion of retirees report each year that they retired sooner than they had planned," with fully 50% doing just that in 2012. "Those who retire early often do so for negative reasons, such as a health problem or disability (51%) or company downsizing or closure (21%)."
And here's another reality check: In 2010, the participation rate of those 65 and older in the labor force stood at 16.1%, a 4 percentage-point change from 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Further, a Gallup poll last May found that the average retirement age is 61.
"Whereas the average current retiree stopped working at age 61, those still working expect to work well beyond that age," Gallup reported. "The average nonretired American currently expects to retire at age 66, up from 60 in 1995."
Read Harold Evensky's 10 Tips for Retirement Success at ThinkAdvisor.


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Even supercars, like the upcoming Pagani C9, need gas. All the easier for spy photographers to catch your never-before-seen gullwing doors. Full gallery below.
As much as we've loved the Zonda F, we're excited about the prospect of more. And "more" is coming by way of a smaller AMG-sourced twin-turbo 6.0-liter V12 sourced from the SL65 AMG Black Series. Hey, it's not like 7.3-liter AMG V12s grow on trees. Horsepower is expected to near the 700 HP mark, giving it more oomph than either the Zonda F or Zonda Cinque.
In an effort to help the monster breathe better there appears to be a larger, updated front clip and big gaping intakes behind the cabin. It does retain the same essential Zondaness we lust after but with one big difference: whereas the Zonda has conventional doors this appears to have Gullwing doors. Hmm... Gullwing doors and a Benz engine?
As the sticker says "GOVERNMENT APPROVED HIGH SPEED TESTING VEHICLE." Yes, and JALOPNIK APPROVED as well.


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- "Their leader was a wizard called Gideon Flatworthy, whom the Daily Prophet famously called 'less a wizard, more a lazy walrus-like object who lies all day on a rather smelly cushion, and expects people to admire him for it'."
- —Miranda Goshawk introduces Flatworthy in her wizarding play on the Summoning Charm in Book of Spells.[src]
Gideon Flatworthy (d. 18 September, 1743) was a British wizard and an anti-Muggle extremist. He led the anti-Muggle organisation, the Accionites.[1]
Early life
Little is known of his early life. He was born in Europe, as it is known that he had an account in Gringotts Wizarding Bank but did not use it as he was too lazy.
Later life
After learning the magical arts, he formed the Accionites, a gang of anti-muggle activists who mostly just sat around and did nothing. When they ran out of gold, instead of going to Gringotts to get more he instead summoned several valuable goblin-made artefacts. The goblins who had created them came to the Accionites' headquarters, brandishing swords angrily and "baying for the Accionites' blood".[1]
Death and post-mortem
After disapparating twice to avoid the goblins and being abandoned by his gang, he tried to summon a farm, some livestock, and a well-stocked larder. He was crushed to death by the bales of hay and cattle that landed on top of him. Experts are uncertain why he did this (they still debate about it) although the most common theory is that he became delirious from lack of food.[1] Sometime after he died, Miranda Goshawk published his story in her Book of Spells, in a wizarding play about the Summoning Charm.
Physical appearance
He was extremely overweight from having lain on a pile of cushions most of his adult life, and wore a golden crown with blue robes. Flatworthy also had an extremely thin moustache.[1]
Personality and traits
Gideon was a wizarding supremacist, having formed the Accionites group to prove wizarding superiority. However, he was very lazy, and his act of despising muggles was solely believing that being able to lift and carry objects magically was what made him and his group superior to them. His laziness was exemplified by his constant usage of the Summoning Charm to bring objects to him, to the point of taking gold and treasures from Gringotts Wizarding Bank rather than withdrawing some from his own vault. He was arrogant, believing that sitting on a smelly cushion and did nothing but summoning objects to him was something for his peers to admire.
Magical abilities and skills
- Apparition: Flatworthy disapparated at least twice in his life, with great success, whilst being attacked by a horde of angry goblins.
- Charms: Flatworthy was an expert at performing the Summoning Charm, having cast it multiple times in his life (this was because he believed himself to be above lifting and carrying things non-magically). This came at the cost of his life eventually, as he lifted an cattle and hay and was crushed by it all.[1]
- Wonderbook: Book of Spells (First appearance)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Wonderbook: Book of Spells - see this video.


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Mrs. Answer: "Honey, your dad is 89, and your mother is 87."
Mr. Answer: "Yeah, early 90's."
Mrs. Answer: "No, that's late 80's."
Mr. Answer: "That would be 85."
Mrs. Answer: "You're not rounding this properly."
Mr. Answer: "Who's the retired math teacher here?"
Mrs. Answer: "I am."
Dr. Grumpy: (Sigh) "Are you allergic to any medications?"


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Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Bio-graph: Graphing Life Events
|9 – 12
|Lesson Plan Type
|Standard Lesson
|Estimated Time
|Four 50-minute sessions
|Lesson Author
Fredonia, New York
This lesson combines the precision of a graph with the subject matter of personal experience. Students interview others in an attempt to choose life events that hold significance for them and then use a rating system to communicate their importance to others. Students first interview another student and make a list of the most important events in their life. They then choose ten events, rating each one from extremely negative to extremely positive. Students next use an online tool to create a visual representation of the information. Students then select two events from the graph and write short descriptions of the events. Finally, they choose one of these descriptions to develop into a biographical piece. The graph can continue to inspire writing for personal narratives and essays, and the lesson can be a resource for writing ideas that the students come back to repeatedly throughout the school year.
Graphic Map: Using the Graphic Map online tool, students chart the high and low points related to a particular item or group of items, such as events during a day, chapters in a book, or events in a person's life.
Donald Graves said that to teach writing well, teachers should know at least five details about the lives and interests of each child they teach. This lesson helps teachers do that, and it also helps students get to know each other. In this lesson, students also employ multiple intelligences when they use graphs to express their feelings about the incidents they will write about.
Further Reading
Anderson, Carl. 2000. How's It Going: A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gazin, Ann. "Reading and Writing Workshop: Focus on Autobiography." Instructor 109.5 (Jan/Feb 2000): 47-52.
Holmes, Leigh H. "Linkages of Nonfiction and Selfhood: The Places of Personal Essays." English Journal 91.4 (March 2002): 64-68.
Leggo, Carl. "The Story Always Ends with Etc.: Autobiography and Poetry." English Quarterly 29.3-4 (1997): 67-86.


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About Justin Osteen
Justin Osteen has worked as a consultant to a wide range of nonprofit organizations for over thirty years, including extensive work with social services, health & mental health services, criminal justice, ageing, the arts, youth development and community organizing, to name a few.
He is the oldest son of Rev. John Osteen, who founded Lakewood Church in Houston, TX, of which Justin was the Executive Director from 1983 to 1998. In that role he also traveled extensively to Asia, the Mideast, Eastern Europe and Central & South America, where he spearheaded medical missions, humanitarian relief projects, native pastor training and church planting efforts. In 1998, in response to the passage of the Intermediate Sanctions law, he resumed his consulting business, assembling a consortium of attorneys, accountants & statisticians to develop a unique proprietary methodology for determining "reasonable compensation" for ministerial staff and executives of churches and nonprofit organizations. His clients include many of the largest ministries in the world, as well as hundreds of smaller churches & ministries.


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Global Grill is an upscale international tapas concept in Pensacola. The artfully prepared small plates include numerous choices for vegetarians.
The restaurant is located in the city of Pensacola rather than its more tourist-y neighbor Pensacola Beach. The restaurant has soft lighting that highlights the color of the dining room.
There is ample seating at the bar. Happy hour seemed to host a lively crowd.
As with a traditional Spanish restaurant, Global Grill offers hot and cold tapas as well as a limited selection of entrees. The menu comfortably travels from Italy to Spain to France to Japan to the Caribbean to the Gulf Shore with seamless ease.
The herbed focaccia had a Mediterranean twist. It was topped with feta cheese, toasted pine nuts and kalamata olives. The streaks of reduced tomato added a bright flavor to delicious toasted bread.
The mozzarella egg rolls were like giant cheese sticks with a flakey exterior rather than the traditional flour-and-breadcrumb coated bar fare. The tomato sauce had a fruity note from merlot.
The olive plate had a variety of green and black olives marinated in oil flavored with rosemary and basil. The portion appears large because the dish is which it is served is canoe-shaped.
Asparagus tempura was perfectly fried in a crispy batter that possessed a delightful crunch. The flavor of the fried veggies was amplified by the sweet balsamic reduction that is drizzled on the plate.
The fried artichokes were stuffed with boursin cheese. The artichokes were marred by a slightly underripe character that added an unpleasant vegetal note to the creamy cheese.
The chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream sounds a little plain Jane, but the addition of basil chiffonade added a fresh, herbal undertone to flavors that are usually safe and traditional. The portion was small, and that works well because it's easy to fill up on tapas.
The wine list at Global Grill has fairly priced wines from a variety of international appellations. It fits nicely with the global menu.
Service at Global Grill was outstanding. The server was easily able to point out vegetarian options on the menu, and did so in a personable manner.
It's evident why Global Grill is one of Pensacola's most popular fine dining destinations. Global Grill is a fantastic example of the merits of well executed fusion cuisine.
|Global Grill


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Photo by Mati Young
Janet W. Hardy is the author or coauthor of twelve groundbreaking books about relationships and sexuality, including The Ethical Slut (nearly 200,000 copies sold to date, including the third edition published in 2017 by Random House), Spanking for Lovers, and her recent memoir Girlfag: A Life Told In Sex and Musicals.
Janet has traveled the world as a speaker and teacher on topics ranging from ethical multipartner relationships to erotic spanking and beyond. She has appeared in documentary films (Slut, Beyond Vanilla, Vice and Consent, BDSM: It's Not What You Think), television shows (The Drum, SexTV, The Dr. Susan Block Show), and more radio shows than she can count.
Janet's writing has appeared in publications as various as The Sondheim Review, Clamor and EIDOS. Her book Girlfag: A Life Told In Sex and Musicals was a finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and the Bisexual Book Award, and her essay "Ex" was a finalist in the Event and New Letters creative nonfiction contests. "The Portal," a very personal essay about vaginas and their relationship to gender (which is not necessarily what one might think), appeared in Best Sex Writing 2010 (Cleis Press, 2009), and "The Old Folks At Home," an essay about aging in an ambiguously gendered relationship, appeared in Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation (Seal Press, 2010).
Janet serves as Editorial Director for Greenery Press, the firm she founded in 1992, as well as for Down There Press. She also runs The Active Voice, which offers editorial, event and promotional consulting.
She often fantasizes about being handcuffed to Stephen Sondheim's piano.
For more detail, or a downloadable resume, please click "CV" above.


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Anaheim 3 Road 2 Recovery Ebay Auction
Carlsbad, CA – Monster Energy AMA Supercross visits Anaheim's Angel Stadium for the 3rd time this year on February 2nd and NOW is your opportunity to get an "Ultimate Fan Experience" package only from the Road 2 Recovery Foundation. Get ready and go behind the scenes with unprecedented access, VIP seating, buffet lunch, swag and more!
Package #1 includes (4) VIP Full Access Credentials to round 5 of Supercross at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA. These VIP credentials give you all access pit passes, Knot Hole seating including dinner, a tour of the Monster Energy Factory Kawasaki Race Team Semi, credentials to the Parts Unlimited Hospitality with lunch served, Parts Unlimited track walk, and an autographed jersey from 2012 Supercross Champion, Ryan Villopoto.
Package #2 includes (4) all day/night pit passes and hospitality, a tour of the Monster Energy Factory Kawasaki Race Team Semi, Parts Unlimited track walk, credentials to the Parts Unlimited Hospitality including lunch, (4) 100% T-shirts and (2) pairs of 100% Goggles.
Package #1 VIP package includes:
- (4) VIP Credentials with all access pit passes
- Reserved Knot Hole seating with Buffet Dinner
- Tour of the Factory Monster Energy Factory Kawasaki Team Race Semi
- Parts Unlimited Track Walk
- Credentials to the Parts Unlimited Hospitality with lunch
- Autographed Jersey from 2012 Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto
Package #2 Ticket package includes:
- (4) Industry Wristbands with all day/night pit access
- Rider Section Seating in sections 133-135 & 231-233
- Tour of the Factory Monster Energy Factory Kawasaki Team Race Semi
- Parts Unlimited Track Walk
- Credentials to the Parts Unlimited Hospitality with lunch
- (4) 100% T-shirts
- (2) pairs 100% Goggles
Bidding available from January 11th until midnight on January 18th. Be sure to check back each week to bid on packages for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross stop nearest you. The Road 2 Recovery Foundation would like to thank Feld, Monster Energy, Parts Unlimited, Thor, Monster Energy Factory Kawasaki, Ryan Villopoto and 100% for their continued support and contributions to our auctions.
About Road 2 Recovery:
The Road 2 Recovery Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that was founded by Bob Moore, Bob Walker, and Jimmy Button in the fall of 2000, and is dedicated to helping AMA licensed professional motocross/supercross riders with financial assistance if they sustain career-ending injuries as well as providing motivational, emotional, and spiritual support to these individuals and their families. To make a donation click here. For more information on Road 2 Recovery and upcoming events visit www.road2recovery.com or contact Anita Button at (602) 578-5339.


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The officials continue to suck for the Pack. This is really getting old. Ironically I told brother Steve before the game last week that if/when the refs do come back, people are going to become quickly disappointed because the real refs make lots of terrible calls (or no calls). That was another example.
We need to just score 60 points today because our D is not going to be able to contain Brees.
Also, has any team historically been poorer at defending against TEs than the Pack. Why do I remember hundreds of games where I found myself wondering why we can't defend TEs, especially over the middle?


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Testosterone Therapy: Review of Clinical Applications - American Family Physician
Oct 1, 2017 - Testosterone therapy is increasingly common in the United States, and many of these prescriptions are written by primary care physicians. There is conflicting evidence on the benefit of male testosterone therapy for age-related declines in testosterone. Physicians should not measure ...
American Family Physician : Article
Urinary Retention in Adults: Evaluation and Initial Management - American Family Physician
Oct 15, 2018 - Urinary retention is the acute or chronic inability to voluntarily pass an adequate amount of urine. The condition predominantly affects men. The most common causes are obstructive in nature, with benign prostatic hyperplasia accounting for 53% of cases. Infectious, inflammatory, ...
American Family Physician : Article
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As most Mid-Westerners do, we have a love/hate relationship with Lake Michigan and it's formidable winds. Many of us have played on golf courses around Chicagoland that test our skills against the windy lake and add an extra challenge to the round. Given that, we are all extremely excited to see how the pro's will tackle The Whistling Straits in Kohler Wisconsin this week at the 2015 PGA Tour Championship.It is always nice to have a PGA Tour event take place this close to home. Check out this article
from The PGA Tour to see how the play will shake out.Also check out this cool video about Pete Dye and designing Whistling Straits.