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This week, I finished up with a project that was 3 years in the making. Now that my brain has started to temporarily rebuild itself (part of the process is drinking wine, listening to Hall & Oates loudly on the car radio, and watching reruns of Seinfeld), I've been thinking of some of the places I would go to work on this aforementioned project. Also, a few days ago subtlekate wrote a post about writing haunts, "[t]hose magical cafe's and hotels that have hosted the best can inspire us to keep going."
One of my faves is The Hungarian Pastry Shop. Okay, so this place can be packed and the coffee is sub par, but if you go in the morning or during other "off" hours and just stick to the made in-house pastries and lattes, you're set. Also, the outdoor seating is perfect for people watching. I am always especially productive here when I'm dealing with jet-lag. Up before everyone else, I hit up the laundromat right when it opens and then take my notebook and make my way to the Hungarian, where you're joined with the two or three others with sleep woes.
Last year, Untapped New York ran the article, "The Hungarian Pastry Shop, a literary outpost." Michelle Young writes,
When author and professor David Grahame Shane (of Recombinant Urbanism) asked me to meet at the Hungarian Pastry Shop on 111th and Amsterdam, I knew it was going to be a great place. You see, Shane's speciality is on heterotopias–those places within cities that trigger creativity and spur urban evolution. In fact, he says they function as cities in miniature and that's kind of what the Hungarian Pastry Shop is like…The shop puts the book jackets of its patrons on the walls…It's also where a scene in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives was filmed.
Some photos that writer took:


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I've been really fascinated with why United Airlines has continued to struggle, even as its peers in the airline industry have long turned a financial corner. I'm in a Q&A kinda mood this week, so let's Q and then let's A what the hell is going on at United.
Q: What the hell is going on at United?
A: Here's what's most interesting to me: Continental was the first real turnaround story in the airline industry in the 1990s and 2000s. Most airlines that struggled back then just disappeared. Gordon Bethune was the poster boy for how to turn a mess of an airline into a world leader. He made his employees happy to work there, he upgraded the product (BusinessFirst), and he focused the network (hubs in Newark, Cleveland, Houston and Guam). It brings tears to my eyes to even write that, because it seems so obvious now. But it wasn't.
Q: If things were so good, why did they merge with United?
A: The industry needed to shrink. Except for a few boom years, the industry struggled as a whole and reducing the number of airlines was the best way to get pricing where it needed to be (this is true of most commodity businesses – fewer competitors brings pricing power. My wife works in the paper industry, and the same thing is happening there.) The unfortunate part about that consolidation is that the one well-run airline felt they could not survive as a standalone business. That's a shame, because those of us who were fans of Continental were heartbroken to learn that about the merger.
Q: Why?
A: Because Continental offered a really solid product with employees who seemed to care. United had old planes and employees who had years of misery. I think that most of us who flew Continental feared the worst – that merging those 2 companies would be a mess. And we were right! (yay us?)
Q: Is there anything United could learn from the Delta/Northwest merger?
A: The Delta and Northwest merger was smart but also benefitted from good timing, forcing the airline to execute brilliantly as they were combining the airlines during the economic crisis. Northwest likely would not have survived on its own, and combining with Delta created a large competitor, while pulling capacity out of the marketplace allowing the entire industry to raise prices. Delta's pretty early success with the merger allowed them some room to invest in upgraded onboard products, creating a point of differentiation for them relative to United, American and US Airways. United and Continental have struggled to get their backend systems combined (which is generally not brought up as a reason that airline mergers struggle – people always talk about fleets and networks, but those are easily changed, relative to the difficulty of combining reservations systems). That's taken the focus away from other areas, while Delta (and American to an extent, but mostly Delta) has improved their product.
Q: So if United improved their onboard product things would be OK?
A: No. If only it were that simple. United says their problems stem from operational issues (ie, late flights and cancelations), increased competition to China, and cost issues relative to their peers. And although they've brought on newer 737s, they haven't invested in their product the way Delta has (have you flown a former United 757?). But their problems go beyond just having an inferior product.
Q: Like what?
A: I've read 2 quotes from analyst that I think get to the root of the matter. Airline analyst Jamie Baker asked on the last earnings call: "I'm just not convinced that even if properly executed, even if properly mined, United has the same profit potential as your primary competitors." And in a recent Barrons article an analyst from Wolfe Research is quoted as saying "We believe [United Continental] has a structural deficiency relative to peers. We believe this deficiency is partly a result of a network that is too large and uses planes that are not optimized for the routes they serve. We believe in order to fix this problem there must be a willingness to forego revenues in order to save costs. We believe bad IT and poor customer service metrics exacerbated the problem, but good IT and better customer service can't completely fix it."
Q: Ouch.
A: Right? It's not a simple problem – it just shows how complex the airline industry is. Like I said earlier, when airlines merge people always talk about whether there are now too many aircraft types, or whether their networks are compatible. It's not that simple. US Airways (and now American) is a very well-run airline. The guys who run US Airways did an amazing job turning around America West, then turning around US Airways and, at least for now, are starting AA of on the right foot. United isn't struggling because their flights are late or their A320s are old, they're struggling because their flights are late, their A320s are old, their IT infrastructure isn't modern, they probably have 1-2 too many hubs, they face significant low-fare competition at Denver, fuel is expensive, a stronger US Airways at PHL means that some people who used to drive to Newark from Central New Jersey will now go to PHL for cheaper flights, their planes are old, they have too many routes (58% more than Delta), they are facing increased competition to Asia, and their employees aren't happy.
Q: That's not good.
A: No, it's not. As the guys from Wolfe Research said in that same article "We believe planes need to be put down without replacement, we believe the associated headcount must be evaluated, and we believe a hard and honest evaluation of the value of the current network will yield a difficult conclusion: fewer planes, fewer cities served, and less revenue might result in lower costs and higher profits. We believe current [United Continental] management will get there." In other words, they've got to shrink. Sadly, they were shrunk when they were separate airlines and perhaps United could have been allowed to die. But that wasn't going to happen (according to management United was turning a corner when the merger happened). We can argue all day long whether they are correct with their point that current management can implement the changes.
Q: Running an airline is difficult, isn't it?
A: Yes! Very. It's a utility and a manufacturing business (they manufacture connections at hubs), and an operational nightmare that is bogged down by acts of God, and it's a consumer facing, customer service heavy nightmare. Airlines have basically failed since deregulation, except for a handful of lowfare carriers that have avoided running complicated networks (Allegiant and Spirit), and Southwest (which was as much a customer service and branding play as anything, and they're so unique I'm not even sure other airlines can learn anything from them). Oh, and probably Alaska. The new Delta is only a couple of years old. US Airways and America West were successes, both only for a few years before they were swallowed up. So many things have to go right, and you need such a strong leader that, in the end, I don't know if we can even say that there is a formula for how to run a large network-based airline profitably over the long haul.
Q: That doesn't bode well for United.
A: No, it doesn't. But they're not on the verge of bankruptcy, and they have enough cash to ride out some tough times. I think it comes down to whether their employees believe that the current management has a vision and ability to turn the thing around. That's the biggest question to me: new seats and closing Denver won't matter if employees are miserable. And happy employees don't matter if they're getting slammed in Asia. So many things have to go right. But I think it starts with whether the staff believes Jeff Smisek can fix it.

subset: commoncrawl


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The hard winter we've had so far certainly takes our minds off the next growing season, yet farmers are called upon to make many decisions during this time which will affect new plantings and growing intentions. Following are an abundance of opportunities to learn about the latest varieties, technologies, and other production practices. Contact the Henry County Extension Office at 845-2811 for additional information.
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Now that Gnome 2.26 is finally in Entropy i was looking at some stuff to highlight a bit.
Incase you missed it, Spritz got renamed to Sulfur this week. If you haven't allready installed it yet, check it out! The idea behind it was to by default offer a less complex interface for the comfort of lesser experienced people out there. You can simply switch to the older interface with all the options by selecting the "Advanced Mode" from the Sulfur top menu.
One of the recent added programs to portage is "Choqok" I nice micro-blogging application thats well designed in Qt4. It has inituative tabs and lets you, on Twitter, Re-Tweet Favorite and reply easily.
Another nice application for the more intense blogging work i've found got very recently added to Portage. Bilbo Blogger.
This program offers you a rich text editor to write your blog and depending on the API that the blogsite provides, it even lets you add images easily. Setting up the account is done by simply dumping in the link to your blog and your credentials.
Meanwhile i can tell you that we are on schedule for the next comming Sabayon Linux G 4.2 release. If you allready have Sabayon 4 and keep it up2date using Entropy, there will be no need to install it. All the artwork related to it is rolling in Entropy as we speak. So when you are Entropy world updated a 4.2 will be visable when you startup your machine.
Last but not least, I came across a nice video about why Linux sucks. Check it out because its all true! (ok most of it)


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A woman sat on a plane heading for New York, when the pilot announces that because of difficulties with the plane's engines, he must make an emergency landing.
The woman, fearing that this may be the end of her life looks over to a man sitting next to her and rips her shirt and bra off, and throws herself on him. "Make me feel like a woman again!" she screamed.
So the man rips his shirt off and hands it to her. "Iron this."


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The fan community has exploded with rage, the internet has been filled with competing op-eds, a petition has been started, and in a wonderful twist, thousands of dollars have been raised for sick children. Now, Bioware is beginning to respond to the controversy surrounding the ending to Mass Effect 3.
In a recent interview director Casey Hudson wasn't exactly specific, but did affirm that any future single player DLC would definitely involve fan feedback. Now, Bioware employee Chris Priestly has posted on the official forums saying, essentially: I'm listening.
We appreciate everyone's feedback about Mass Effect 3 and want you to know that we are listening. Active discussions about the ending are more than welcome here, and the team will be reviewing it for feedback and responding when we can. Please note, we want to give people time to experience the game so while we can't get into specifics right now, we will be able to address some of your questions once more people have had time to complete the game. In the meantime, we'd like to ask that you keep the non-spoiler areas of our forums and our social media channels spoiler free.
We understand there is a lot of debate on the Mass Effect 3 ending and we will be more than happy to engage in healthy discussions once more people get to experience the game. We are listening to all of your feedback.
If Bioware actually ends up making changes to the story based on fan feedback, it will be a landmark moment, not just for Bioware, but for video games as a whole. Combined with the recent success of Double Fine and Wasteland 2 on Kickstarter, we could be seeing an entire new era of gamer involvement with the development process.
The uproar over the ending has had a way of obscuring the fact that fans still love the series, as well as the majority of Mass Effect 3. Priestly closed his post with an appeal to common ground:
In the meantime, let's give appreciation to Commander Shepard. Whether you loved the ME3 ending or didn't or you just have a lot of questions, he/she has given many of us some of the best adventures we have had while playing games. What was your favorite moment?


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- 1/2 lb. spinach
- 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 medium red onion, halved, cut into 1/3-inch-thick wedges with some core attached
- 1 7-ounce package feta cheese, coarsely crumbled
- 2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar
Place spinach in large bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add onion; sauté until brown and softened, about 7 minutes. Transfer to bowl with spinach; remove skillet from heat. Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil and cheese to skillet. Stir to melt cheese slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over spinach; toss to coat and wilt slightly.


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This is new formula with ZOTREEM PLUS extra Losing extra weight is the only loss everyone is proud of. Its Burning fat specially in the lower part of the body (waist, hips, legs, buttocks) and you can losing from 10 to 12 Kg in month. The feeling of hunger controlled fast by starting from the first capsule of ZOTREEM PLUS you immediately lose your appetite. You also lose your ability to eat big meals. You will be able to lose 3-4 kg each week. You will also be able to get rid of the Stubborn fat in your Legs, Butt, Hip, Thigh and Tummy Trouble Sports and Problem Areas. Main Ingredients: Coix Seed, Lotus Leaf, Radish Seed, Hawthron Fruit, Japanese Sea tanpl
Specification: 350mg / 30 Capsules/Box
Suggested Use: Only 1 Capsule per day destroys fat cells. Shelf Life: 24 months.
Suppresses appetite (it really does!) Boost up metabolism 18 times Improves you energy and strengthens immune system Burn calories you consume and stored fat in the body FAST! How to take Zotreem Plus For man and woman Drink more water and juice 1 capsule a day before or after breakfast Do not consume alcohol Safety information:It can't replace drugs. Zotreem Plus are not recommended for under 18 or people over 60 years Do not take zotreem extra if you have high blood pressure Zotreem Plus: should not be consumed by pregnant or breast feeding women.


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"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." – Frederick Koenig
On this Thanksgiving, I'm grateful…
» for my partner Daniel, who gives me unconditional love and supports me in all my endeavors.
» for a loving and supportive network of family and friends, both in the United States and here in Argentina.
» for my good health.
» for the roof over my head and food on the table.
» to be doing work that I enjoy.
» to have hope for the future and exciting plans on the horizon.
» for the opportunity to make music with Coro Alta Mira.
» for the natural beauty that surrounds me, especially the ocean.
» for the opportunity to meet so many special people through the medium of blogging.
» for the chance to expand my perspective on life through travel and living in another culture.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family, wherever you call home. May your hearts be full and your blessings many.
Past reflections on Thanksgiving
2009 Let's Talk Turkey (or Lack Thereof)
2008 Thankful
[Image credit: riptheskull]Read More......


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The last episode of the PBS Series of Many Rivers To Cross: A wonderful experience to blog about through my eyes.
We the people in order to form a more perfect union
Establish Justice
Secure perfect tranquility
Do provide for the common defense
Promote the general welfare
Secure the blessings of liberty
Do ordain and establish this constitution to the United States of America
River of Gratitude: Into this life some rain must fall
Tears of my parents and grandparents falling like rain.
Thunderous sounds of my ancestor's spring forth a river of resilience
Synopsis: Episode one through six:
Many trials and tribulations but we survived
Rivers crossed because of our will to survive
To God Be The Glory for He gave us the ability to survive
Cross over those bridges built with the strength of our forefathers and foremother's quest to survive


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"Channel Z's All Static All Day Forever" - IRD and Hiperdispatch
MartinPacker 11000094DH Visits (9207)
I've been looking for an excuse to reference the excellent B52's Channel Z ever since we started talking about "z". And this is, I think, a good one. (Notice BTW the URL in the previous paragraph makes it clear SING365.com (should be "SING360" ) is using Domino.) So, back to the matter at hand... A customer I'm working with is using Intelligent Resource Director (IRD)... [More]


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When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, and few years later from Portugal, they sought refuge where they could. Large numbers went to Morocco, Holland and the welcoming Ottoman empire. Others ventured further afield, to the Caribbean and the New World and others as far as eastern Europe.
Therefore, when in 1592, Ferdinand I (di Medici), Grand Duke of Tuscany, invited them to settle and freely practice their religion in Pisa and Livorno, many expelled Sephardim eagerly took him up on it. Thus was established the community of Sephardic Livornese Jews.
Trading from these Italian ports, they spread out through the Mediterranean and in the XVIII century some settled in Tunis, first as agents for the repurchase of Christian slaves from north african pirates and later as trading agents for their relatives in Livorna. Known as (grana) they found little in common with the local Jews (touansa) and kept separate from them maintaining separate synagogues, cemeteries, kosher rules and rather unfriendly relations. Even politically they disagreed, with the Livornese favoring a protectorate under Italy while the locals favoring France.
Because the Portuguese community kept detailed records, one can easily construct several complex genealogies. In their excellent source book Registres matrimoniaux de la communite Juive Portugaise de Tunis XVIII-XIX, (see Ben-Zvi Institute) - from which the above text is largely excerpted - the authors, Robert Attal and Joseph Avivi reprint 2 of 10 marriage registers, translating the text of the 1000+ ketubbot found in them. The list of surnames mentioned in those ketubbot can be found by clicking on the icon for "Search for Names" from my main Sephardic web page.
Using their book (just 2 marriage registers), I was able to find kettubot from the 18th and 19th centuries of a distant branch of my family (MALKA) and develop a detailed genealogy tree of that branch including divorces, remarriages and amount of money of the kettubah, which when compared with others could give clues about their relative financial state. I give here a small part of that tree which otherwise could include marriages of the spouses, etc. as an example of what can be achieved from these registers.
One learns that Abraham Malka's son, Moses, married, "according to the traditions of Toledo", Luna the daughter of Solomon Israel on the 12 October 1791. They had 2 sons and a daughter. In 1803, their daughter Esther Malka married Isaac, son of Sam Pansir, while their sons David and Solomon Malka married Rebecca Medina and Anne Moreno in 1818 and 1853 respectively.
Rebecca and David Malka also had 2 sons and a daughter. Esther Malka married Ruben Louizada while Isaac Malka married Esther Abdias and Elie Malka married Judica Elhaik.
Another later Abraham Malka had a daughter Luna who married Solomon Bais (1855), only to divorce him and marry Benjamin Enriques in 1860. A year later her younger brother Moses Malka married her husband's sister Sara Enriques. Luna's sister married Moses Tapia while her other brother Jacob Malka married Reine Abocara, and so on and on ....
Many similar genealogies and family alliances can be easily developed for many other Sephardic families from these meticulous and fabulously detailed Tunis kettubot.
[back to Top of Page]
All Rights Reserved
Sephardic Genealogy Resources


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Our Cotton Citizen T-shirts are hand crafted in Los Angeles from ultra soft cotton-jersey with contrasting dyes for subtle contemporary attitude. This unique piece will become a casual favorite. This classic crew has binding detail.
Model is 5'10'' and wearing a US size S


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The queue being almost full all the time is not the issue, because even when reaching first in the queue, stats do not update. Maybe its just a coincidence that all i see in the recently updated section for Battlefield Bad Company 2 is Xbox360 players, but I can't find any PC players who have updated using bfbcs.com since the date stated in the title.
I'm not sure if this is known and PC stats are no longer being tracked by p-stats for BFBC2, or simply no one has posted about this issue here, or I am really alone in this being my problem. All I would like right now is confirmation from another PC player who uses bfbcs.com that they also have not been able to update their stats for battlefield bad company 2 since 14/01/2015... or even if you are also having issues?
Thank you.
Edit: BFBC2 Soldier name - Danzic9


text: Anne Castano 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2012 Hi My name is Anne Castano I am new to Ceramic Arts Daily and though I would share a link to my blog where I am kicking up a stink and trying to generate debate about contemporary ceramics. My latest post raises some points regarding the role of the ceramic artist/ceramist/potter/maker in contemporary society from a British view point. I know that the American market is different and would be interested to hear any views on the influence Leach has hade on ceramics both in the UK and abroad. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Anne Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Organisations wanting to succeed in the digital era focus on eradicating application disruption and cutting out downtime. To achieve this, many are switching to cloud-based predictive analytics and machine learning to prevent problems with their virtualised infrastructure that might otherwise affect customer service, profit and reputation.
Increasingly, organisations want the benefits of flash storage as it drops in price. HPE's Nimble Storage is going a step further by driving the evolution to predictive flash with HPE InfoSight Predictive Analytics. The solution realises the promise of the predictive datacentre, which foresees and prevents issues before they have an operational impact.
HPE InfoSight analyses millions of sensors every second and predicts and prevents problems across the entire infrastructure stack, ensuring that data is always available.
"HPE InfoSight analyses storage on the array as well as reviewing the network, servers and virtual machines. It works up and down the stack preventing any slowdown or disruption to the application that makes users wait and impacts profitability," says Richard Slyfield, HPE UK and Ireland Storage Category Business Manager.
Bridging the app-data gap
When organisations hit the "app-data gap", the common response is to buy more storage – but throwing hardware at the problem is often short-sighted.
"In thousands of cases [surveyed], 54% were not storage related, so buying more storage is not necessarily the answer. HPE Nimble analyses storage, but by also analysing the whole infrastructure we can identify the problem," says Slyfield.
If a customer is found to have an issue with configuration and settings, other customers with the same setup are alerted. This knowledge sharing in the HPE Nimble installed base prevents widespread problems breaking out.
Forward-thinking organisations are adopting HPE Nimble to benefit from predictive analytics that diagnose any problem before it materialises to save time and money and improve IT operations, so that IT departments can focus on innovation.
"HPE Nimble with InfoSight offers organisations rich telemetry, cloud-based analytics and global learning. Machine learning and artificial intelligence mean organisations can look to automation of the datacentre and move to predictive flash storage," says Slyfield.
A predictive vision
HPE's roadmap incorporates this predictive vision with InfoSight as the industry moves more towards cloud-based analytics to help customers make more informed decisions.
"More and more platforms are reporting back learning and other customers can benefit from this to prevent problems, resulting in the sharing of best practice and reducing resource contention," says Slyfield.
HPE's confidence in providing a proactive solution is reflected in its transformed support experience. InfoSight automates the tasks handled by traditional level one and two support and so in the rare cases where support is necessary they can go straight to level three support and engage directly with an expert engineer.
"We already know what is going on with Nimble customers as the metrics used mean that 86% of problems or issues are predicted and prevented before the customer knows - they have already been resolved. Therefore, we can guarantee availability of six nines (99.9999%) across the installed base," says Slyfield.
Customer feedback on the proactive Nimble solution is very positive, he adds.
"One customer used to spend 15 to 16 hours a day fixing issues in the datacentre. With HPE Nimble and InfoSight, he is now doing a normal working day and can focus on driving business outcomes rather than dealing with patches and issues," says Slyfield.
If an organisation wants to future-proof its infrastructure and add intelligence into the datacentre, then predictive flash and InfoSight brings artificial intelligence for the datacentre across the Nimble portfolio.
Organisations interested in benefitting from HPE's Nimble solution and the promise of an autonomous datacentre can visit HPE Nimble


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With eight months to go before the presidential election – can it really be that long? – a lot could go wrong for President Obama.
The US recovery could falter and unemployment inch back up – perhaps as a result of European economic difficulties jumping the Atlantic. Gasoline prices could become even more burdensome on businesses and individual Americans. Disengaging from war in Afghanistan could prove more difficult than Pentagon planners figure. Obama may have to fulfill his very public pledge to "cover Israel's back" in response to Iran's nuclear weapons capability.
And of course there are always what former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used to call "unknown unknowns … things we do not know we don't know."
But for now, at least in terms of presidential election politics, there must be at least a few Cheshire cat grins around the White House.
None of the four remaining Republican contenders shows any signs of dropping out as they continue to pummel each other on the primary/caucus trail. If Newt Gingrich were to do badly in next Tuesday's primaries in Mississippi and Alabama and call it quits, that would leave Rick Santorum to concentrate his fire on front-runner Mitt Romney – who would have to respond, further delaying the point at which he can concentrate fulltime on Obama, return to his inherently moderate self, and hope to look presidential.
The Monitor's Weekly News Quiz for March 3-9, 2012
Meanwhile, as Fox News political analyst Juan Williams pointed out this week, "The protracted political battle on the Republican side has already begun to do damage to the party's brand."
"An NBC News/Wall Street Journal from last week found that 40 percent of adults say the primary process so far has given them a less favorable impression of the GOP. Only 12 percent say they have a more favorable impression," Williams wrote on Fox's website. "When pollsters asked people to describe the GOP primary in one word or phrase, almost 70 percent responded with a negative comment … 'painful,' 'poor choices,' 'depressed,' 'discouraged' and 'uninspiring.'"
At the same time, Obama's own "brand" is starting to become shinier.
The poll Williams refers to also finds that Obama's approval rating has inched back up to 50 percent. He would beat Romney 50-44 percent in a head-to-head match today (and the other GOP hopefuls by wider margins).
For one thing, the Wall Street Journal reported, the poll found diminishing signs of economic pessimism, with 57 percent of Americans now saying the "worst is behind us,'' up from 49 percent in November. February's employment report – US employers added 227,000 jobs to complete three of the best months of hiring since the recession began – is good news for the Obama re-election team as well as for the country.
"A real recovery, in line with historical rates of economic rehabilitation, has finally arrived," writes Adam Sorensen, editor of Time magazine's "Swampland" political website.
"If it continues, it could shift the burden … to Republicans, completely rebalancing the 2012 presidential race," he writes. "Mitt Romney (most likely) would have to make the case that things would be much better now if Obama had not hampered the economy with onerous regulation. Rather than asking Americans if they're better off, he'll have to dive into the weeds of Big Government gone bad and persuade voters that Obama is not realizing America's full potential."
Again, events could interfere with Obama's upward political trend.
But for now, Democratic pollster Peter Hart told the Wall Street Journal. "President Obama is probably in the best political shape he's been in since the first year of his presidency."
"If he were the prime minister of Britain, he would dissolve the Parliament and run for re-election in the next three weeks," Hart said.
Alas for Democrats and Obama, they still have to slog it out for eight more months.


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Sukka on Shmini Atzeres?
Different minhagim come to the forefront this time of year, and growing up spending many a Yom Tov among Jews of all stripes, in various kosher hotels, makes this author uniquely suited to address this annual Sukkos "battle". Not the proper order of nanuim with the Lulav and Esrog, nor the correct order of the Ushpizin. Rather, I'm referring to sitting in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres. Is it an obligation or recommendation? Prohibited or permitted?
Sukka Source
Not a recent question, the Gemara in Sukka (46b - 47a) deals with this very subject: How Shmini Atzeres is viewed in halacha. The Torah states[1] that the day following the weeklong holiday of Sukkos (which we know colloquially as Shmini Atzeres) is a holiday as well, and technically not part of Sukkos. This means that on this day there is no obligation to do any of the Mitzvos exclusive to Sukkos, whether shaking the Lulav or eating in the Sukka.
As long as the Sanhedrin in Eretz Yisrael established the New Month (Rosh Chodesh) based on eyewitnesses, Jews in far away places who did not receive messengers in time would keep two days of Yom Tov instead of one. This was due to the uncertainty of which day Rosh Chodesh truly was, and consequently when the Yomim Tovim actually fell out, all to ensure that they did not unwittingly transgress any Biblical prohibitions[2]. Later, in the times of Rabbi Elazar ben Pedas, when much calendar confusion reigned (due to the subversive efforts of the Cutim), Chazal decreed that in Chutz La'aretz (the Diaspora), "Yom Tov Sheini" is always observed[3].
The outcome of this is that in Eretz Yisrael where there never was a safek yom or "day in doubt", only one day of Yom Tov is celebrated, exactly as it is written in the Torah, while in Chutz La'aretz each day of Yom Tov has become a "two-day Yom Tov". Which brings us back to our dilemma: What should we do on Shmini Atzeres in Chutz La'aretz? Do we treat it as part of the preceding holiday of Sukkos, or does it maintain its exclusive status as a separate holiday?
As previously mentioned, this issue is debated in the Gemara, which famously concludes that on Shmini Atzeres "Meisiv Yasvinan, Bruchi Lo Mevorchinan". In other words, we eat in the Sukka, but we don't make the regularly mandated bracha of "leisheiv baSukka". The Rosh[4] explains that since Sukkos and Shmini Atzeres are separate and different holidays and have different sets of Mitzvos, we can't do all of them as it would be 'tarti desasri', an outright contradiction. Rather, we do what we can lechumra, meaning eating in the Sukka, but not making the blessing. We also do not wave the Arba Minim on Shmini Atzeres[5]. This dual ruling is duly codified in halacha by the Rambam, Tur and Shulchan Aruch[6].
Minhag Mysteries
Yet, something seems to be lacking in the application of this halacha. Forif this is the proper conclusion, why are there divergent customs? And there most definitely are divergent customs here! There are those who sleep in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres; those who don't even step foot in the Sukka; those who only make Kiddush in the Sukka but eat the majority of their meals inside, and those who only eat in the Sukka but don't sleep there[7]. Which is correct?
To Sleep or Not to Sleep?
It is known that the Vilna Gaon[8] was very makpid on not only eating but even sleeping in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres. The Chayei Adam relates that the Gr"a once made the whole yeshiva sleep in the Sukka on a freezing Shmini Atzeres night, just to show the rest of the city the importance of following this halacha. Several authorities[9] rule like the Gr"a, saying that one must sleep in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres, as they maintain that the last day of Sukkos is the most important. However, many authorities do not agree with this reasoning and maintain that although one must eat in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres, nevertheless, one does not (and some say nor should not) sleep in the Sukkah[10]. The Chasam Sofer famously did not sleep in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres[11]. This is also the conclusion of the Mishna Berura[12], who states that the "Minhag HaOlam" is not to sleep in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres.
Not to Eat
However, there were many great authorities who ardently defended the minhag of not eating in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres, including the Sfas Emes, the Aruch Hashulchan, the Kozeglover Gaon, and the Minchas Elazar[13]. Many of them are based on the Korban Nesanel[14] who writes that since eating in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres is only mesafek - therefore in places where it is cold and windy, one does not have to do so. Others understand that the Gemara meant that one may eat in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres without the bracha of "leisheiv baSukka", but not that one is obligated to. Either way, different minhagim of not exclusively eating in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres have earned staunch support.
Israel Issues
I know, readers in Israelare saying that's all very nice, but this doesn't affect them; they only keep one day! No safek yom here! But actually it just might concern them. For what is a "Chutznik" or two-day Yom Tov keeper who happens to be in Israel for Sukkos (quite commonly yeshiva bochurim) to do? Since they are only temporarily in Eretz Yisrael, they must (according to the majority halachic consensus) keep the second day of Yom Tov in Israelas well[15]. Must they still sit in a Sukka on Shmini Atzeres or do as the Romans…err, Israelis do?
Contemporary halachic decisors are divided as to the proper halacha, with no clear cut ruling. The Tukachinsky Luach, Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach, the Minchas Yitzchak, and the Shmiras Shabbos K'hilchasa[16] rule that a "Chutznik" should not eat in a Sukkah in Israel on Shmini Atzeres, as one should not be stringent on a safek yom that does not apply where they currently are, especially as the whole rule of keeping two days in Eretz Yisrael is a matter of dispute. Additionally, sitting in a Sukkah publicly when the locals do not might be of halachic concern.
Others, including Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Rav Shmuel HaLevi Wosner and the Debreciner Rav[17], rule that someone who always keeps Yom Tov Sheini must continue to keep it to its full extent - even in Eretz Yisrael.
A third opinion, that of Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul, Rav Ovadia Yosef, and the Betzeil HaChochma[18] is that the Chutznik should eat in a Sukka, unless he is dependant on locals for his meals. This means that a bochur eating at relatives who are eating their Yom Tov seudah inside may eat with them, as he is not obligated to cause them hardship. As with any other halachic question, one should ask his own Rabbinic authority which opinion he should personally follow.
Whatever your minhag on Shmini Atzeres, enjoy the protection of the zecher l'ananei hakavod, and feel the embrace of Hakodosh Baruch Hu all Yom Tov long!
[1]Vayikra (Parshas Emor) Ch. 23 verse 36.
[2]See Rambam Hilchos Kiddush HaChodesh (Ch.3, 11 & Ch.5, 4).
[3]See Gemara Beitzah 4b; Rosh Hashana 21a; Yerushalmi Rosh Hashana Ch. 2, 1; R' Y.M. Tukachinsky's Ir HaKodesh V'HaMikdash Vol. 3, Ch. 19; and the forward to Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried's classic Yom Tov Sheini K'Hilchaso at length.
[4]Rosh - Sukka Ch.4, end 5.
[5]The reason being that if it were a separate holiday and waving the Arba Minim would be deemed unnecessary, then they would be muktzah. Therefore Chazal would not rule that we do something that would be a safek mitzvah/safek aveirah, and especially not to make a bracha on it! Another interesting outcome based on this 'tarti desasri' is that the vast majority of halachic decisors argue on the Taz (668, 1), and rule that one may not be mekabel Yom Tov early on Shmini Atzeres.
[6]Rambam (Hilchos Sukka Ch.7, 13), Tur / Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 668, 1).
[7]See Tur (O.C. 668), Beis Yosef (ad loc.), Magen Avraham (ad loc. 2), Ba'er Heitiv (ad loc. 3), Shaarei Teshuva (ad loc. 3), Mishna Berura (ad loc. 6 & Shaar HaTzion 4 - 8), and Kaf Hachaim (ad loc. 5) who cite these various minhagim.
[8]Maaseh Rav (222), Chayei Adam (153, 5), Shaar HaTzion (663, 4). This is also the mashmaos of the Beis Yosef (ad loc. s.v. v'ochlin), and Elyah Rabba (ad loc. 4), although strangely absent in the Shulchan Aruch, that poskim do not make a distinction between eating and sleeping in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres.
[9]Including the Bikurei Yaakov (668, 4, citing proof from the Rashba), the Divrei Malkiel (Shu"t vol. 1, 32) and Ben Ish Chai (Year 1, Parshas V'Zos HaBracha 13), who rule that one must also sleep in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres.
[10]This is opinion of the Ravyah (562, cited by the Mordechai in his glosses to Sukka 772) which is defended by the Rema (Darchei Moshe 663, 3) and Levush (ad loc.) from the Beis Yosef's challenge. The Maharil (Seder HaTefillos Chag HaSukkos 13) held this way, as did many later Acharonim including the Noda B'Yehuda (Shu"t Kama O.C. 40), Ksav Sofer (Shu"t O.C. 120), Divrei Yisrael (Shu"t vol. 1, 200), and Maharshak (Haghos Chochmas Shlomo to O.C. 668), who prove that the Ravyah is correct, and one does not sleep in a Sukka on Shmini Atzeres. The Minchas Ani (Shu"t 25, 1), although ruling that one should treat being in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres the same as the rest of Sukkos, nevertheless was upset at those who held that one should be more stringent regarding the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres, as eating in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres is a derabbanan m'taam safek, as opposed to the rest of Sukkos.
[11]Shu"t Ksav Sofer (ibid. s.v. vchein ra'isi). See also Shu"t Hisorerus Teshuva (vol. 1, 18 & vol. 2, 25) who defends this shitta of his grandfather.
[12]Mishna Berura (668, 8). See however, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (138, 5) who also acknowledges that the Minhag HaOlam is not to sleep in the Sukka, yet still concludes that it is proper to do so anyway.
[13]Sfas Emes (Sukka 47a s.v. maysiv; cited in Piskei Teshuvos vol. 6, pg. 455 footnote 3), Aruch Hashulchan (O.C. 668, 2 & 3), Shu"t Eretz Tzvi (vol. 1, 98), and Shu"t Minchas Elazar (vol. 4, 31). Others who defend this minhag include the Elef L'Magen (O.C. 625, 45), Shu"t Chedvas Yaakov (Tinyana, 127), Shu"t Bais Yisroel (107), Shu"t Chok Moshe (27), Shu"t Maharshag (vol. 1, 35), Shulchan HaTahor (Heichal Bracha al HaTorah, commentary to Parshas Emor Ch. 23 verse 36), Shu"t Divrei Yaakov (77), Otzar Chaim (Mitzva 326), and Sha'arim Metzuyanim B'Halacha (138, 3). Even the Chayei Adam (ibid.) and Maharsham (Daas Torah, 668 s.v. chutz) cite minhagim to eat only partially in the Sukka. See also Shu"t Kiryas Chana David (vol. 1, O.C. 81), who writes that the inyan of Sukka on Shmini Atzeres is not a chiyuv but rather chavivus hamitzva.
[14]Korban Nesanel in his Glosses on the Rosh ibid. 7.
[15]See at length Yom Tov Sheini K'hilchaso (Ch. K'veeyus Sheim Ben E"Y U'Ben Chu"l, ppg. 156 - 208).
[16]Tukachinsky Luach (Shmini Atzeres), Shu"t Minchas Shlomo (Kamavol. 1, 19, 1), Shu"t Minchas Yitzchak (vol. 9, 54), and Shmiras Shabbos K'hilchasa (old print Ch. 31, 40; new print Ch. 2, 22).
[17]Shittos of Rav Y.S. Elyashiv, Rav S. Wosner, and Rav C. P. Scheinberg are cited in Yom Tov Sheini K'Hilchaso Ch. 2 footnote 48; Shu"t Ba'er Moshe (vol. 7, pg. 315, 4 - Dinei Bnei E"Y & Chu"l). The Ba'er Moshe held that even so, a Chutznik need not sleep in the Sukka on Shmini Atzeres in Eretz Yisrael. However, the Steipler Gaon is quoted as holding that a Chutznik should even sleep in the Sukka.
[18]Shitta of Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul is cited in Yom Tov Sheini K'Hilchaso Ch. 2 footnote 49; Shu"t Yechaveh Daas (vol. 2, 76); Shu"t Betzeil Hachochma (vol. 5, 146). However, it should be noted that Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rav Elyashiv explicitly disagreed with this rationale (Yom Tov Sheini K'Hilchaso ibid.).


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President Obama Is Not Impressed With Your Right To Modify His Photos
from the copyfraud deptYou may have heard that, over the weekend, President Obama released a photo taken late last week with him and Olympic medal winning gymnast McKayla Maroney, doing the "not impressed" pose:
Cute. And, of course, nice to have a President not so out of touch that he's unaware of internet memes.
Except... as lawyer Venkat Balasubramani quickly noted, the restrictions on use are somewhat questionable. Beneath the photo on the Flickr account, it states:
This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.This is, of course, not a new thing. In fact, we reported on this exact phrase on the White House Flickr feeds three years ago. As we noted at the time, there had been some controversy when the White House first started using Flickr in the early days of the Obama administration, as any Federal US government created work is automatically public domain. Yet, Flickr did not have a "public domain" license option. In response, Flickr actually created a special license to indicate that the work was a US government work. That license explicitly states that "anyone may, without restriction under U.S. copyright laws... create derivative works."
And yet, the White House is ignoring what that license says in claiming that the photograph "may not be manipulated in any way." That's clearly untrue under the law and a form of copyfraud, in that they are overclaiming rights.
But, in this case, it's especially ridiculous, since the entire reason the "McKayla is not impressed" meme became so popular was the memegeneration of putting her displeased face into various other images.
Filed Under: copyright, derivative works, mckayla maroney, memes, not impressed, president obama, public domain, white house


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Sarah Connolly
You're about to perform at the Last Night of the Proms for the first time. How does it feel?
I have a mixture of feelings – I'm thrilled, exhilarated, a bit nervous. I've been told by people who've done it before to relax, to just enjoy it. I've got quite a lot to do this time, which is a good thing, but there's a lot to concentrate on and I'm a wearing a different outfit for each appearance!
What's special about the Proms?
It's an extraordinary international music festival, probably the most important, widely-visited and watched in the world. And I'm very proud that it happens in the UK. Controller Roger Wright's done a fantastic job covering all bases, I'd say – there's something for everybody.
This year you're singing two of Dido's arias from Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas. You've described yourself as being 'obsessed with' Dido – what connects you to the character?
I heard it first when I was 11 or 12 at school, and I thought it was absolutely extraordinary music. I just got hooked on the piece. I find the music very reassuring. It's a real connection to the past: if that kind of thing was hugely popular then, it's thrilling to me that it's being performed in the Last Night of the Proms now.
How important to you is it to perform Purcell authentically?
Though I want to be authentic, the vibrato in my voice is a bit of a giveaway – it's a 21st-century sound, but I think that's a given, certainly in a big space like the Albert Hall. And it would be very odd for me not to use vibrato. If you want that kind of recording [without vibrato], listen to the excellent Catherine Bott version, which is the purest of the pure you can get. But it doesn't have the kind of drama that ours has, and that's what I was aiming for: going for 21st-century voices which have a stylistic sensitivity.
You're also performing 'Shall We Dance' by Gershwin, another composer whose work you have something of a history with…
Yes. I used to do my own piano and voice arrangements of Gershwin pieces. I've always liked to do that – to make it sound like a real jazz piece. And that's what composer Barry Forgie has done [for the Proms], I believe. I haven't heard the arrangement yet – we've only just worked with piano – but he can make a symphony orchestra sound as close as possible to a proper jazz arrangement.
Trumpeter Alison Balsom and I will duet: she does the main tune and I do an answering phrase later on. I'm glad I chose that song because it gives real scope for a duet. It'll be amazing but it's going to be a bit bizarre. We're going to be at the front away from the rhythm section, with microphones, so I'm a bit nervous of the acoustic control. All we have to do in rehearsal in the morning is to make sure we can hear the drums, otherwise it's going to be all over the shop! So that slightly worries me. But I think so long as we can get the acoustics sorted out it'll be fine.
Interview by Matt Elton
Image: Peter Warren
Related links:
Proms Diary 13: Completing Mahler
Proms Diary: Part 12 – Stepping inside the orchestra
Proms Diary: Part 12 – Living Legends
Proms Diary: Part 11 – Unsound investment
Proms Diary: Part 10 – A formal introduction
Proms Diary: Part 9 – Milestones at the Proms
Share your thoughts on this year's BBC Proms on our Forum
Follow BBC Radio 3's Proms blog here
- Article Type: | Article |
- Article Category: | Artist Interviews |


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Crazy Taxi – Hints and Tips
Hints and Tips by Exodus
Updated: 08/10/99
Subject: Crazy Taxi : A Guide to Breaking the 100K Barrier
From: email@example.com
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 07:40:14 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.games.video.arcade
Here's an attempt to share my style of driving for reaching 100K in
Crazy Taxi. This will probably only work for a 4/4 machine or easier
machine. For higher level machine, the playing style is quite
1) You can reach 100K if you meet the following criteria:
a) Can Crazy Dash and Limit Cut with 95% accuracy.
b) Can Crazy Drift and Crazy Stop (pick up and letting off customer)
with 80% accuracy.
c) Understand the Customer Map well (at least 70% accuracy). Refer to
the Map at http://come.to/crazytaxi/
d) Able to reach a time of 350 sec or more when your score is at 60K
with your current style of driving.
e) Able to stand for 2 hours+ without getting tired.
2) Some additional General Guide
a) Always stop near to your next customer. If you are sure where they
are heading to, make sure you face the direction of the next
destination when you stop. This will avoid unnecessary turning. Drift
stop is the best for this purpose.
b) If you are not sure where they are heading (eg those customer near
the church, where they can either go Heliport or back to Tower Record),
then point your direction halfway between either destination.
3) The trick to reaching 100K is you have to pick up as much Green
Customers (try for all). Most of the green Customer are located on the
3 slope toward Tennis Court (12 of them at least) and the 3 slope from
Cable Car Top toward Cable Car Bottom (at least 12 also). This alone
will give you at least 24K-30K of income.
3) As a general guide, travel as close to this two slopes (actually 6
altogether) as possible to pick up all the green customers there.
4) Whenever you are at the Cable Cable Car Top or Cable Car Bottom,
always travel to the 3 slopes and pick up the green customer first,
only after you finish the green customer, then start picking up the
other color.
5) Whenever you are at the Lookout Tower, if there is no customer that
go to Tennis Court (the Yellow one), travel to the fire station to look
for light green customer that go to the University. If there isn't any
or you are unsure, then go directly up the slope and find the green
customer there. It's okay if the green customer you picked go back to
Boarder Paradise or Hospital area.
6) Whenever you are at the Tennis Court, if there is an orange customer
that go to the University, pick them, otherwise, go up the slope and
pick up another green customer. Note that not all orange customer go to
the university, some will go back to the fire station. If unsure,
always travel to the slope and pick up the green customer or travel all
the way up University and pick up the customer there instead.
7) Although you will lost some time by traveling further to pick up the
green customer, However, if you make no mistake or little mistake when
picking up and sending the green customer to the destination (with alot
of LC when possible), you will lose at most 10-15 secs of time only.
8) What's the point of having 400 seconds at the later stage of the
game (beside trying to impress the audience?)? Spread the time evenly
out instead and keep time slightly above 150 seconds will be fine. Just
make sure your time don't drop below 30-40 seconds, otherwise it's very
hard to get time added back again.
9) You can use other color customer to gain time and move closer to
your next green customer. Always try to move toward the University
direction instead of going round and round elsewhere.
8) The priority for choosing customer should be Green -> Light Green ->
Yellow -> Orange -> Red , unless the lower priority customer lead you
to another green customer or bring you closer to the slopes that i
mentioned earlier.
9) Some customer will change color (eg, those at bus terminal will
change from Red to Yellow), always pick the one that travel further.
10) Perform as much Crazy Through as you can. On a level 4 machine, you
can afford to drive a little slower (ie, without using Limit cut too
much). Earn more money per customer using crazy through to help you
reach a higher score.
11) I always avoid Crazy jump over the ramp because you lose control
over the car and the gain in money isn't really that much. But other
drivers seem to think otherwise. I will leave that to you as your own
driving preference.
12) At the highway from Baseball Stadium to Police Station, the fastest
way is to keep to the left of the road and LC all the way while hugging
the wall (if you really need the extra time). Otherwise, travel on the
left side of the road for first half of the journey, then hop over to
the opposite direction and crazy through as many car as you can. Quite
dangerous, but will gain alot of money.
13) From Crown Area/Hotel to Bus Terminal, the right side of the road
(oncoming traffic) usually has less car and should give you more time
14) When travelling between Crown Arena and Hotel, try to take
different path each time (sometime go by the side, sometime cut through
center) while looking out for the color of those waiting customer.
15) Some Yellow Customer at Hotel area go back to the Police Station.
This is the hardest journey in the game (most of the time you will lose
time). Avoid them if possible. If you have to pick up, make sure you
take the right turn after the Mall-W, heading toward Sky Bank, then
toward the Police Station. Don't travel via the CT Hospital Path, or
cutting through the central area, they are harder to handle.
16) From Tennis Court to University, always cut through the short cut,
the other side is straighter, and allow you to LC immediately to gain
17) From FILA shop / Popcorn toward Original Levis store, going up
carpark is a shortcut. But it's quite hard to do it right, so if you
don't want to risk, just travel the normal way from below. The time
gain is not really much anyway (at most 2 secs).
That's all I have for now. If you have any things to add, please reply
to this thread. Let's work together to come out with an ultimate Crazy
Taxi guide that can pick up each customer in the game? :)
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With the HyCLEAN CIP system you can save up to 70% water as well as cleaning and labour time. In addition, optimal cleaning – using less detergents and chemicals – means longer belt lifetime.
The HyCLEAN CIP system can easily be integrated in new or existing conveyors and works with low water pressure from normal tap water supply.


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Since 1994, the ANC-led government has worked tirelessly to transform the South African economy, through fundamental macroeconomic reforms, into a robust and vibrant economy characterised by good monetary and fiscal policy. The result has been a prolonged period of uninterrupted economic growth unprecedented in the history of the country.
The sound financial system created by the ANC-led government has also helped to protect South Africa from the worst of the global banking, housing and credit crisis and in a period when others are experiencing or projecting recession, South Africa is still poised for growth.
Effective communication between government and the business community has been a vital key to the economic successes we have achieved in the past. This has traditionally been conducted at the formal level through entities like Nedlac and with organised business groups.
Now in order to continue facilitating effective and VITAL communication between government and ALL sectors and sizes of business, the ANC would like to invite you to join our business group the Progressive Business Forum (PBF), formed in 2006 with the primary objective of creating an ongoing dialogue between the ANC and the business community.
Daryl Swanepoel


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Scouts of America: Supporting an Ongoing Tradition of Honoring Public Service
By Irina Karmanova on February 8, 2017
The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America believe that America's youth are the key to building a more conscientious, productive, and responsible society. These leadership developmental organizations provide programs for youth that build character, courage and confidence, train them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and help them discover their strengths, talents, and passions.
We at the U.S. Department of State are excited to participate in continuing a more than 100 year old tradition -- along with many other government officials, astronauts, religious leaders, politicians, celebrities, and other recognizable figures -- of sending hand-signed congratulatory letters to new Eagle Scouts and Gold Award Scouts in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. The State Department is honored to have the opportunity to recognize and honor boy and girl scouts who are going the extra mile to demonstrate values that serve as important pillars of global citizenry.
For many young people around the nation, becoming an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts -- or a Gold Award Scout in the Girl Scouts -- is a great accomplishment. Achieving one of these honors not only involves remarkable leadership and dedication to excellence, but also a commitment to improving their individual communities. Many of these Scouts are a part of educational Honor Societies, hold high rank in their troops, and create exceptional service projects -- ranging from helping the homeless, to repairing walkways, to creating parks for kids, or helping small animals. Since 1912, over 2.3 million young men have achieved Eagle Scout status, and since 1916, more than one million girls have earned the Gold Award or its equivalent.
Recognizing the achievements of these scouts with a congratulatory letter serves to honor each individual Eagle Scout or Gold Scout by commending them on their dedication, citizenship, and leadership. It is an honor and tradition that extends to even the highest ranks of the U.S. Department of State. Just last year, over 4,000 letters were sent to Eagle Scouts and Gold Award Scouts across the country on behalf of former Secretary of State John Kerry. Letters have also been sent by former Secretaries of State Clinton, Rice, and Powell. They have praised Eagle Scout and Gold Award Scouts on their special combination of integrity, perseverance, and discipline required of them to achieve such an honor.
U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, also has roots in the Boy Scouts of America. Secretary Tillerson is a Distinguished Eagle Scout, Silver Buffalo Award recipient, and past national president of the Boy Scouts of America from 2010 to 2012. In 2009, he was inducted into the Eagle Scout Hall of Fame of the Greater New York Councils.
Many boys and girls scouts have shared that these letters become treasured keepsakes and encouraged them to continue their life-long commitment to the values of the Scouts through continued community service, or through military or government service. Efforts to recognize the scouts activities are just one way the U.S. Department of State strives to encourage public service as it engages with the American public. We look forward to continuing to congratulate these future global leaders as they work to uplift their communities and gain skills that reflect the best of America's values both at home and abroad.
Editor's Note: This entry is also published on Medium.com/StateDept.
For more information:
- Find out how you can request a congratulatory letter here. (Include the Scout's full name, troop number, council, and a short description of their service project.)


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Celebrating the "Yes" with a bunch of "No"s
There are usually a lot of weddings in June, so I know you're getting sick of all those perfectly lovely wedding and engagement cakes by now, aren't you? [patting your hand] Well don't you worry, dear; that's what I'm here for.
First, fellas, take note: This is NOT how you do it.
Once the engagement is set, some couples like to celebrate by getting something big, shiny, and misspelled:
While others like adopting fun new aliases...
Some couples like to keep the guests guessing:
Or freaking out the family with something that looks like it should come with a ransom note:
"Pay up, Bub, or your fiance loses her other hand."
(I've always wanted to do that.)
- Related Wreckage: Hey Nurse, Slip Me Some Tongue!


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DKNY launches Ramadan collection
See Gallery
Saturday night marked the beginning of Ramadan, a month-long period of daily fasting observed by Muslims worldwide.
DKNY, which recently launched a Middle East website and has several stores in the region, is targeting that demographic even further with its inaugural Ramadan collection and coordinating campaign. According to Savoir Flair, it's the brand's first ever regionalized campaign.
The collection consists of conservative-yet-summer-appropriate pants, blouses, skirts and dresses in festive colors and prints. The campaign is fronted and was styled by Middle Eastern fashion personalities Yalda Golsharifi and Tamara al Gabbani. Golsharifi is a fashion editor based in L.A., Kuwait and Iran, according to her Instagram bio, while al Gabbani is a designer and TV presenter based in Dubai.
It's probably a really smart move on DKNY's part. Not only is the Middle East home to many of the wealthiest people in the world -- just about every global brand is expanding there at the moment -- but there is a huge shopping rush in the weeks surrounding Ramadan, specifically. Wealthy Middle Easterners are apparently flocking to shopping destinations (London especially) to shop to their heart's content pre-Ramadan. London retailers have dubbed this period the Ramadan Rush.
If destination-shopping has become de rigeur, it's safe to assume Ramadan observers are shopping a lot within the region as well. Hence DKNY's readily available, limited edition collection just for them.
For more info, head to DKNY.com.
More from Fashionista:
We Try to Recreate the Pink Hair at Marc Jacobs at Home
Rihanna's Tips for Dressing Like Rihanna, as Told to Vogue
The Best, Most Wearable Beauty Looks from NYFW
Gucci Wins the Fall 2013 Cover War With 108 Covers


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Great review and really sleek looking design, author is spot on about the competition that exists at this price level and the outstanding level of performance now being offered. While I lament the loss of physical media the performance improvement we are getting now for our dollar was unheard of 10 years ago and is most welcome.
M2Tech Young D/A processor & Palmer Power Station battery power supply
A new path for me is M2Tech's Young DAC, with its optional external battery power supply, the Palmer Power Station. I've listened to DACs with internal power supplies, wall warts, and expensive, cost-no-object external AC supplies. I thought it would be interesting to see what difference running a DC battery might make.
Young DAC
M2Tech is an Italian manufacturer distributed in the US by TEAC America, and available via mail order not only from the usual audiophile suspects, such as Music Direct, but also, surprisingly, through retailers like Adorama and B&H Photo. I'm guessing the latter outlets get access by carrying the more mainstream TEAC and Tascam products.
M2Tech's Young ($1499) is among the relatively recent crop of DACs that can handle 32-bit resolution via USB (and up to 24 bits via S/PDIF or AES/EBU), as well as sampling frequencies up to 384kHz via USB, or 192kHz via S/PDIF and AES/EBU. Its asynchronous USB input is based on M2Tech's hiFace technology, which is used in their line of USB-to-S/PDIF converters.
The M2Tech designers have largely ignored the filter in the Burr-Brown PCM1795 DAC chip used in the Young, instead implementing a custom oversampling "minimum phase" filter aimed at eliminating pre-ringing, and which internally processes the data at 32-bit/768kHz. Upsampling can't be bypassed, and there are no user-adjustable filters or other settings. What M2Tech has selected and programmed into the Xilinx Spartan FPGA on the Young's circuit board is what you get.
The Young DAC is packed in a tidy, no-frills box, with wall-wart power adapter, USB cable, and two sheets of paper. On one sheet are URLs for downloading the complete manual (in English, Italian, or German) and the drivers needed for your computer; the other has a very brief set of instructions. After playing with the Young a while, I never needed to download the manual, but it's there if you need itmost of its pages are dedicated to setting up the required drivers on your computer, which might come in handyespecially for Windows users wanting to use the USB input.
The Young itself is elegant and modern in appearance, encased in a simple single sleeve of aluminum just under 8" square and 2" tall. The front and rear of the sleeve are open, and recessed into the front is a curved screen of perforated black metal, behind which sits the large blue alphanumeric display (a red display is available). Prying off the four small, black rubber feet on the bottom reveals four Phillips-head screws; remove these to easily slide out the electronics and front- and rear-panel assemblies.
On the front panel are two small silver buttons, for Standby (left) and Input Selection (right). Tap the right button and tall blue letters slide across the screen to indicate the input mode: USB . . . XLR . . . BNC . . . When the Young locks on to a signal, the sample rate pops up and stays there. Very simple, very effective. Though you can use the Young as a simple digital input switcher, there is no remote control.
Around the rear, starting at the left, are the two RCA analog outputs, an AES/EBU input, both 75 ohm BNC and RCA S/PDIF inputs, a TosLink jack, a USB 2.0 input, and a small jack for the 15V wall-wart power supply. Everything is very clean and tidy and solidly built. The Young ran only slightly warm to the touch and never became hot.
Oh, and it's named after one of rock's most vocal proponents of high-quality sound: Neil.
Palmer Power Station
The Palmer Power Station ($1249) is packed in a secure but minimal box just like the Young's, nor do the similarities end there. The Palmer is the same size, weight, and general appearance as the Young, and is likewise accompanied by a single sheet of paper listing the URLs for downloading the owner's manual. Not having used a battery supply like this before, it took me a few minutes to figure out the logic behind how everything worked.
The Palmer's front panel looks exactly like the Young's: a curved screen of black, perforated metal with two small silver buttons. There are no labels, which I love for aesthetic reasons, but which requires some patience and experimentation to fully understand. Or you could just RTM (read the manual).
The left button powers on the supply connecting the battery to AC, and the right button turns the DC output on and off, allowing you to prevent battery drain when the attached DAC or ADC is not in use. Behind the screen are two red LEDs, one next to each switch: the one on the left lets you know if you're supplying AC, the one on the right lets you know if the lithium-polymer (Li-Po) battery is charging (instead of indicating the status of the right switch, which confused me a tad at first).
The one feature I wished the Palmer had is some sort of display that indicates the battery's charge level. Considering that the large empty area between the buttons is not otherwise used (as it is on the Young), a series of lights or a display with numbers representing the percentage of charge would have been nice.
Do you think a decent power conditioner would do the same job of cleaning up the sound as the Palmer power station did?
Thanks, I suppose I`ll have to give it a try and see for myself. I bought the Young as an upgrade to my Halide dac HD so I could get into the 24/192 realm.
I had 3 dacs on my wanted list for this upgrade, the NADM51 and Benchmark dac2 and I went with the Young per your review.
The Young has proven itself to be everything you described, and has brought a new level of musical enjoyment to me.
I have one other question if anyone can answer, what is your opinion/knowledge regarding RCA to XLR adapters?
The Young has only RCA outs and my sub/sat system has ony XLR inputs so I`m using a set of Cardas adapters and cant help but wonder if I`m defeating a purpose or losing a benefit somewheres with this set up.


text:
A time for firsts
Hello and Happy New Year! This is one of my favorite times of year. I must admit, I am extremely competitive, and love the opportunity to be the first at things. Shortly after midnight, and well into the first week of the year, I am constantly re-using the same joke, "I haven't done _________ since last year". Honestly, I use that with the stupidest things, like "I haven't ordered pizza since last year". As I read that last sentence I begin to understand the disgusted looks I receive. When I shift the focus from my personal to professional life, it is no secret that I bring that sense of personal competitiveness to the workplace. Thankfully Cisco has rewarded this behavior thus far. Historically this competitive nature has dominated the Cisco landscape, and the Global Certification Team is no exception.
Over the next few weeks we will be hearing from subject matter experts in the various certification programs. They are going to be talking about programs such as USGv6, Common Criteria, and the FIPS 140 crypto validation programs. The team will be expounding on the vast array of Certification firsts at Cisco. Cisco has and will continue to be dedicated to supporting the global Government landscape with the various certification and Security Assurance programs required by our customers.
Cisco has long been a thought leader in the business and technological communities, and what you will see over the next few weeks, is that Cisco has a long history of certification firsts in all of our programs. This is an exciting time and we look forward to continuing to forge the path of Global Public Sector based certifications.
Oh, Happy New Year!!!
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


text:
It's ScuttleButton Time!
One category that, regrettably, won't be discussed during next Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony: best on-line button puzzle.
I don't know about you, but in my book that would be ScuttleButton.
ScuttleButton, of course, is that once-a-week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)
For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?
You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to email@example.com.
(Why do people keep forgetting to include their name and city/state?)
And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at email@example.com. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.
Good luck!
By the way, I always announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with it now less than a week until the next show, your window for getting your answer in is smaller.
Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's puzzle:
I'm for Will Wilson — In 1961 Wilson, a Texas Democrat, sought the Senate seat that Lyndon Johnson vacated when he became vice president.
Re-elect Hugh Carey to Congress — Carey, a Brooklyn Democrat, first came to the House in 1961; this button is probably from his '68 race. He was later elected governor of New York in 1974 and '78.
New York City Italians Love Abe Beame — Perhaps, but it didn't help him win his bid for a second term as mayor of New York City in the 1977 Democratic primary.
Scrabble Crossword Game/I've Got the Word — Probably from the early '70s.
Re-elect George Allen U.S. Senate — Allen, a Virginia Republican, was defeated in his bid for a second term in 2006 by Democrat Jim Webb.
It's Miller Time! — Jim Miller, the former OMB director, unsuccessfully challenged Sen. John Warner in the 1996 Virginia GOP Senate primary.
So, when you combine Will + Hugh + Beame + I've + Allen + Time, you may just very well end up with ...
Will You Be My Valentine? I thought you'd never ask.
The winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Stephen Hammontree of Traverse City, Mich. Stephen gets not only the coveted Political Junkie t-shirt — but the Official No Prize Button as well!
And don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which focuses on the retirements of Sens. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), the upcoming special election in Illinois' 2nd District, and more on the ideological battle going on in the GOP. Click here to read the column.


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text: Continuing Medical Education Page Content As an osteopathic physician, you're committed to the health and well-being of your patients and the general public. With AOA continuing medical education (CME) offerings, administered by the Council on Continuing Medical Education, you can: Refine your skills Deepen your understanding of the osteopathic medical profession Meet ongoing certification requirements Offer the best in patient care Learn about CME options All AOA members, other than those who are exempt, are required to participate in the CME program and to meet specified CME credit hour requirements. For detailed requirements, please consult the following: CME Guide 2017 CME Information Frequently Asked Questions Requesting AOA Category 1-A CME Credit for Allopathic CME Activities If you're AOA board certified and your specialty is on the AOA Under 300 List for 2016-2018 CME Cycle, you can convert up to 15 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ to AOA Category 1-A CME credits during the current CME cycle. To do this, complete and submit the Formal Request for AOA Category 1-A Credit form. Handbook of the Council on CME Download the procedural manual for the AOA Council on Continuing Medical Education (CCME) and other AOA officers. Download the Handbook (Hidden) Resolutions for Public Comment Bureau of Osteopathic Education and Council on Continuing Medical Education Resolutions Posted for Public Comment The resolutions will be posted for 45 days for public comment. The submitted comments will be shared with the Bureau of Osteopathic Education and will be made available for the Board of Trustees deliberations at its July 2016 Annual Meeting. Please send all comments to email@example.com, no later than Friday, June 10, 2016. Revisions to the 2016-2018 Continuing Medical Education Guide for Osteopathic Physicians - CME Credits for Postgraduate Studies Revisions to the AOA Accreditation Requirements for AOA Category 1 CME Sponsors - Section IV Changes Revisions to the AOA Accreditation Requirements for AOA Category 1 CME Sponsors - Section VIII Changes Share This Your browser does not support this functionality. AOAScript Manage Your CME Contact Us:If you would like to speak with a CME Service Representative about your CME Activity Report, call (888) 62-MYAOA (888-626-9262), or send an email to the Customer Resource Center at firstname.lastname@example.com Report Your CME Credits:Fax your CME credits to (312) 202-8202, Attention: Customer Resource Center, or email attachments to firstname.lastname@example.com sure to include your name and AOA ID.


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Announcement: Starting 11 Forum Rules
Starting 11 Forum Rules
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text:
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Halloween Leftovers
Out of ideas for leftover Halloween candy, might I suggest a maggot and tomato sandwich. Except for the gelatin, the It's Alive Creepy Crawly Sandwich with Marshmallow & Gummy Candy is vegan. So I guess it's not then.
It's a 4.9 oz grotesque gummy marshmallow sandwich made in China and distributed by Riviera Brands. The stomach churning behemoth comes in a half sandwich shaped plastic container, then another plastic wrapper which goes a long way to explain its outstanding taste, plastic. The wrappers are helpful because granulated sugar falls off the candy bread as soon as you open it.
The smell is not pleasant, like something approaching black licorice marinated in Vick's Formula 44.
It's hefty. The marshmallow sandwich has the opposite of an aftertaste, it has a foretaste. Before you taste it, you know you shouldn't be eating it.
A dignified nibble—who am I kidding—treats you to a mouth full of something as organic as a Lady Gaga lettuce dress. It's far worse if you also get a bite of gummy whatever. The sickening smell comes more from the gummy fixin's than the thick marshmallow slices. There's a combination of plastic, perfume, and possibly rubber flavoring at play. The pickle, lettuce piece might have been green apple and a peck at the worm maggot wasn't as indigestible as the rest.
Better used as a threat, weapon, or a prop, you'd be better off with real maggots and spiders and hard pressed to tell the difference. Was that last part too much?
Dished by Jeanna on Thursday, November 03, 2011
2 comments:
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text:
Apple Cobbler
Prep time:
20 mins
Cook time:
45 mins
Total time:
1 hour 5 mins
2½ pounds Granny Smith apples
2 pounds Fuji apples
1½ pounds Gala apples
3 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅛ teaspoon salt
1½ sticks (6-ounces) chilled unsalted butter, plus softened butter for baking dish
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 (6-ounce) package sweetened, dried cranberries
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (6-ounce) package sliced almonds
Note: You will need approximately 8 to 10 apples total.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
Peel and core the apples and cut them into ¼ to ½-inch dice. Try to get the apples pieces as uniform as possible to ensure even baking in the cobbler. Combine the apples with 1 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Cover and set in the refrigerator while preparing the cobbler topping. The sugar will draw out some of the moisture in the apples, so the filling will be nice and thick.
Combine the remaining sugar with the flour and salt in a medium size bowl. Set aside ½ cup of the sugar and flour mixture to coat the apples. Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and work into the sugar/flour mixture using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers until it forms a coarse meal.
Drain the sugar syrup from the apples and set aside. Combine the apples with the reserved flour and sugar mixture. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest, and sweetened dried cranberries to the apples and stir well to evenly distribute all the flavors. Pour into the buttered baking dish.
Lightly beat the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and slowly drizzle it into the flour mixture. Don't worry if it seems a little dry at first. Continue to stir the mixture until the flour is completely absorbed into the egg. (You might want to get your hands into it and use your fingers to finish.) Take a small bit of the topping and roll it into a 1-inch ball. Gently flatten the ball into a disk and place it on top of the apple mixture in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining topping, slightly overlapping the disks.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the juices are bubbling and the topping is a light golden brown. Let the cobbler rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. While the cobbler is sitting, coat the almonds with the reserved sugar syrup. Drain off the excess syrup and place the almonds on a buttered parchment lined baking sheet. Roast until the almonds are golden brown, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Scatter them over the cobbler.
Tips: To make cutting the butter into the flour/sugar mixture a bit easier, try grating frozen sticks of butter on the large holes of a hand grater. You'll have small bits of cold butter which will help the coarse meal form quickly. Use a melon baller to scoop out the core of the apple halves quickly and with minimal waste.
Recipe by
Dinner and a Family
at http://dinnerandafamily.com/apple-cobbler/


text:
Artist RJ Palmer certainly isn't the first person to try their hand at drawing "realistic" Pokémon, and he won't be the last. But for now, just now, he's my favourite.
You can see more RJ's art at his personal site. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to wash the taste of terror out of my mouth.


text:
cybertonic needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 159 designs submitted by 73 freelance designers.
Terrific new ad media needs a great logo
Accepted File Formats:
Standard Web Formats (.jpg, .gif or .png); Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
Please propose me a great logo to replace the one we have.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text: Leadership Will McGuire - President and CEO Mr. McGuire joined Second Sight in August 2015 as President and CEO. Most recently he was with Volcano Corporation, where he was President of Americas Commercial since 2014 and prior to that, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Coronary Imaging, Systems and Program Management since 2013. Prior to that Mr. McGuire served as Vice President and General Manager of Patient Monitoring at Covidien. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of AtheroMed, Inc., a venture capital-backed peripheral atherectomy company, prior to which he was Chief Operating Officer at Spectranetics Corporation, a publicly-traded medical device company. In addition, Mr. McGuire held various positions at Guidant Corporation from 1998 to 2005 including General Manager of Guidant Latin America; Director of U.S. Marketing for Vascular Intervention (VI); Director of Global Marketing for VI; and, Production Manager for Coronary Stents. Prior to 1998, Mr. McGuire held positions in Finance and Production at IVAC Medical Systems. A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Mr. McGuire received his M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. John Blake – Chief Financial Officer Mr. Blake most recently served as Senior Vice President, Finance of aTyr Pharma, a publicly-traded biotechnology company he joined in March 2015. Prior to aTyr, Mr. Blake was responsible for the global financial planning and analysis function at Volcano Corporation (Volcano), a publicly-traded medical device company, where he successfully executed Volcano's rapid growth and expansion as Director, Financial Planning and Analysis from March 2010 to March 2015 and as the SEC Reporting Manager from November 2008 through March 2010. Mr. Blake was also previously an auditor in public accounting and an analyst for BD Biosciences. His extensive transactional experience spans multiple public offerings and mergers and acquisitions, including the $1.2 billion sale of Volcano to Royal Philips, NV in February 2015. Mr. Blake is a Certified Public Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from National University and is a Beta Gamma Sigma scholar at Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. Mr. Blake has completed leadership executive education at Harvard Business School and the Strategic Financial Leadership Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. David Jacques – Vice President of Research & Development Mr. Jacques joined Second Sight in February 2017. From 2012 through 2016 he was a principal of his management consulting firm where his clients included various high tech companies including Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. His duties and responsibilities included analyzing existing and leading edge technologies, aiding in assembly of world class engineering teams, working with management to devise innovative systems and continuous improvement of enterprise systems, and managing multiple complex projects. From 2012 to 2014 Mr. Jacques also was founder and Chief Technology Officer of AcuteTeleCare, LLC, a developer of a next generation, state of the art telemedicine platform to facilitate rapid diagnosis and treatment for patients with acute conditions, such as cerebral stroke. From 2006 to 2012 Mr. Jacques also served as Vice President, Research & Development at Stereotaxis, Inc. where he was the company leader of all engineering teams specializing in organizational evaluation, role identification and structural effectiveness for a high-tech leading edge medical manufacturer. He earned a Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Arizona. Amit Kukreja - Vice President, Global Reimbursement & Market Access Mr. Kukreja is our Vice President, Global Reimbursement & Market Access since October 2016. He joined Second Sight in January 2012 as Director of Market Access, EMEA and successfully expanded reimbursement approvals in some of the key European markets. Between 2007 to 2011, Mr. Kukreja worked as Market Access Consultant where he formulated and executed reimbursement & pricing strategy for several innovative medical devices. As Consultant, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Synergus MedTech Consulting, Sweden (as Associate Director, Project Leader and Project Manager- Global Market Access), Simon-Kucher & Partners, Germany (as Pricing Strategy Consultant) and as a Freelancer. From 2014-2016, he was a member of Eucomed Ophthalmology Group and also led the European MedTech Reimbursement Program at RAPS, Switzerland Chapter. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Kukreja worked as Sales Representative for Godrej & Boyce, India. Amit holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Manipal University, India and an MBA from WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany including management modules from Kellogg School of Management, USA, CEIBS, China and IIM Bangalore, India. Steve Okland – Commercial Vice President, U.S. and Canada Mr. Okland joined Second Sight in March 2016 as Commercial Vice President, U.S. and Canada. Most recently he was president of Sanford Rose Associates – Okland Group, Inc., which specialized in commercial executive talent acquisition for early stage to mid-cap medical device companies. Previously, he served as Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Sales, at Miramar Labs, Inc., a medical device company targeting dermatologic medical conditions, where he led all commercialization activities. Prior to that, Mr. Okland served as Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and U.S. Sales at Medivance, Inc., and directed the turnaround of all commercialization activities resulting in a $250M acquisition by Bard Medical. At Spectranetics, Inc., as Vice President, U.S. Sales and Marketing, he directed all U.S. sales and marketing operations during a period when the company was named to Fortune's 100 Fastest Growing Companies three years in a row. He also held several sales positions of increasing responsibility during 12 years at Boston Scientific Corporation and at Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc., where he began his career. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters of Business Administration from Texas Christian University. Edward Randolph – Vice President of Operations, Quality and IT Mr. Randolph served as Vice President of Manufacturing from 2007 to 2016. From 2003 to 2007, he was Director of Manufacturing Engineering at the electrophysiology division of Boston Scientific Corp, where he was instrumental in the execution of remedial process validation in response to their 2006 FDA Warning Letter. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Randolph was the Director of Manufacturing Engineering at Cygnus, Inc., a manufacturer of novel non-invasive transdermal drug delivery systems. Prior positions included 7 years at Ventritex, an implantable cardiac defibrillator company where he facilitated the relocation of manufacturing following the acquisition of that company by Pacesetter. He received his Master of Science in Engineering from Stanford University and his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Frank Vandeputte – Vice President and General Manager EMEA and Asia Pacific Mr. Vandeputte was appointed Vice President and General Manager EMEA and Asia Pacific in October 2017. Most recently as a consultant, Mr. Vandeputte served as Vice President of Global Sales for Occlutech AB, as a board member of AuXin Surgery, as well as serving in other sales and marketing roles for several medical device companies such as Trivascular Inc., Aptus Endosystems and EBR systems. Between December 2009 and April 2011, Mr. Vandeputte was Vice President Sales and Marketing for Oxford Immunotec, and between July 2008 and July 2009, he served as Vice President Europe for CryoCath Technologies. Mr. Vandeputte has a bachelor degree in Physiotherapy from SHIPMB Gent and a postgraduate degree in Business Administration from the Flemish Business School, VLEKHO in Brussels.


text:
The Mode page of the Settings dialog affects which files are transferred using ASCII mode.
The file transfer settings made here only affect the SSH Tectia File Transfer GUI, not the SFTP conversion or command-line tools related to file transfer.
- File Transfer Mode
Select the default file transfer mode from the following options:
- ASCII Extensions
Files using a file extension specified in the ASCII Extensions list will be transferred using ASCII mode.
- New
Click the New icon (at the top right-hand side of the ASCII Extensions list) to add a new file extension to the list. The keyboard shortcut for the New icon is the
Note that you can use wildcard characters to specify the file extensions. The
?character matches any 1 character, and the
*character matches any 0 or more characters. For example
htm*would match both
- Delete
Select a file extension entry from the list and click the Delete icon (at the top right-hand side of the ASCII Extensions list) to remove the extension. The keyboard shortcut for the Delete icon is the


text:
STEM degree production in the U.S. is not keeping pace with the demand for STEM talent. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are underrepresented in the STEM disciplines—the largest untapped STEM talent pools in the United States.
Our Work
Find specific work or narrow your results by type, topic, program, project, or service by selecting your criteria from the choices at right.


text:
U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Company Fired Employee Over Osteoarthritis Issues, Federal Agency Charges
MILWAUKEE – GGNSC Administrative Services, Inc., a centralized billing and collections office for nursing homes, violated federal law by firing an employee while she was on approved medical leave because of her disability and failing to explore potential accommodations, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed yesterday.
The EEOC's suit (Civil Action No. 2:12-cv-00238) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin) alleged that GGNSC violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by terminating Mary Benford, a collections specialist, when she requested an extension of her medical leave for treatment of osteoarthritis in her left knee. After receiving the request for an extension of leave, GGNSC terminated Benford, even though at the time she was still on an approved leave. Further, the agency said that GGNSC failed to engage in the required interactive process to discuss accommodation alternatives with Benford; instead, it fired her with no warning.
Such alleged conduct violates the ADA, which requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation of an employee's disability unless the employer would suffer an undue hardship as a result. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process. The agency's lawsuit seeks, among other things, monetary relief in the form of back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and a permanent injunction enjoining GGNSC from further discriminating on the basis of disability.
"GGNSC terminated Ms. Benford, a four-year employee, simply for requesting the accommodation of a 3.5 week extension of her medical leave," said John Hendrickson, regional attorney for the EEOC's Chicago District. "A company is legally obligated to work toward reasonable accommodations with its employees."
The EEOC's Chicago District Office is responsible for processing discrimination charges, administrative enforcement and the conduct of agency litigation in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota, and operates Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.